Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Cristina and the Soup!

 Bella foto! :)

It really looks like Cristina can do no wrong.
Whenever I go snooping on one of her two Facebook pages, I'm continuously amazed at the seemingly unconditional love of her fans who will applaud whatever she does or says, and this apparently regardless of the content or context.
Good on her, she has certainly earned it.

So here's to Cristina and her fans.
But above all, here's to her fans taking the time to really understand, and then heed the lessons of her latest post on the website of Shark Savers. Indeed, unless properly educated, most people will never understand why Sharks are different from other Fish - and yes, in order to be accepted and thus lead to positive results, that education needs to come from people who understand and respect the specific circumstances and cultural framework they are operating in.
Well said as always, brava!

And you certainly don't have to look as far as Asia.
I'm quite sure that this article will ignite the usual firestorm, the more as the author appears to be fully aware of the conservation status of Tigers, which is Near Threatened.
But repugnant as killing and eating Tiger Sharks may be to me and hopefully most of the readers of this post, let's also be clear about the fact that with the exception of Florida, catching and killing Tiger Sharks in the USA is perfectly legal, likely because the authorities tasked with managing the fishery deem that it is sustainable. After all, Near Threatened means Not Threatened and from what I hear, Tigers are among those Sharks whose US populations are apparently very much recovering (but beware of shifting baselines!) after much better Shark management measures have been put into place.

But the conservation status is obviously not the whole story.
As Neil writes, the meat is full of urea and also, like the meat of many large predatory Fishes, it contains methylmercury, making it only partly suitable for human consumption - but that's not a conservation issue, that's a matter of public health and as such, it falls within the authority of the FDA that so far is however limiting its advisory to pregnant women and children only.

Long story short?
I love Sharks and would personally never, ever kill one - but once again, that's merely a personal stance that got nothing to do with conservation.
Like it or not, the fact is that in the real world, the vast majority of people do want to consume protein including seafood - even, at least in my experience, the vast majority of divers who will vehemently campaign for marine conservation but then order Fish and Lobster for dinner!
And as long as that's the case, I remain of the firm conviction that sustainable wildlife extraction has to be part of the mix - and this very much including the sustainable fishing for Sharks!
This at least in theory: when it comes to the practice, it remains highly questionable whether achieving true sustainability is even possible - certification or no certification!

Talking of which - whatever happened to this stupidity?
And does anybody know whether the vociferous Ms Reed has ever come true on her proud announcement that she would be saving sharks in the USVI? No Fin no Sharks no Future, or whatever - right?
Just asking! :)

But I'm clearly digressing as usual.
Enjoy Cristina's post!

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