Friday, April 16, 2010

Case in Point!


Sorry for the silence!
Thing is, we're currently hosting Royalty and also, incredibly busy cooking up some real cool projects (watch this space!) and it's just very difficult to find the time!

But I saw this and just wanted to make the point.
This would have been a Fijian all-tackle record and yet, they let the Shark go.
They of course being Bite Me, Fiji's top game fishing operator and together with Matava, the coordinator of the Fiji roll-out of the Shark Free Marinas Initiative22 supporters later, Fiji is by far the most active region and well on its way to becoming the first Shark Free country.

I just discovered that the SFMI website has been completely re-vamped and is now even more user friendly.
And yet, when you check out the Registered Marinas, nothing much has changed: a paltry 7 in the USA, a measly 3 in the Bahamas where Shark diving is a mainstay of tourism - not a single one in Australia,  New Zealand, Africa, Asia, Europe, South America: entire continents featuring less supporters than the tiny Kingdom of Tonga!
How pathetic is that!

I've said it before, this is without a doubt one of the most efficient and effective Shark conservation initiatives around. The concept could not be simpler, it costs absolutely zero and it immediately saves Sharks that would otherwise get killed - and yet, nobody seems to care.

Let me cite from another post.

Having searched for "names" and having looked at the websites of the plethora of self-professed Shark lovers, savers, warriors and protectors out there, I'm starting to wonder: where are they?

Where are, to name but a few, the Funds, Allies & Alliances, Societies, Foundations, Initiatives, Conservancies, Institutes, Projects and Trusts, the Backbiters, Savers, Preservers, Spotters, Angels, Shepherds, Aiders, Stewards, Researchers and all of those other orgs that solicit donations from the public for safeguarding Sharks?
Where are all those prominent photographers and cameramen that draw their sustenance from taking images of Sharks?
Have the Shark diving operators and the Travel agents that book them bothered to mobilize their clients?

Questions questions - and I spare you the answers! 

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