Sharks disappearing as fin chopping rises - Reuters

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Sharks disappearing as fin chopping rises
Sun Feb 17, 2008 11:54am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Populations of tiger, bull, dusky and
other sea sharks have plummeted by more than 95 percent since
the 1970s as fisherman kill the animals for their fins or when
they scoop other fish from the ocean, according to an expert
from the World Conservation Union, or IUCN.

At particular risk is the scalloped hammerhead shark, whose young
swim mostly in shallow waters along shores all over the world to
avoid predators.

The scalloped hammerhead will be listed on the 2008 IUCN Red List
as globally "endangered" due to overfishing and high demand for
its valuable fins in the shark fin trade, said Julia Baum, a member
of the IUCN's shark specialist group.

-snip-

The numbers of many other large shark species have plunged due
to increased demand for shark fins and meat, recreational shark
fisheries, as well as tuna and swordfish fisheries, where millions
of sharks are taken as bycatch each year, said Baum, a fellow at
the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN1560772220080217

[OwnedByFerrets]

1. And the worst part is that...

99.9% of Amerikan's would give a flying fuck if they went extinct. We selfish idiots dont give a damn about anything as long as the air conditioners work, Walmart is open and cable isnt interupted. :mad:

[bananas]

2. k&r

Sharks are, at the least, an amazing piece of machinary - and at the most, much more than that - even having a code of ethics.

[ben_meyers]

3. Perhaps your anger should be aimed at certain Asian cultures

I see no reference to Americans "finning" sharks. It would appear that the demand is "Asian Culture". Should we stick our nose in their cultural practices too?

Hammerhead meat has a very low value but the sharks are among the most endangered species because their fins are highly prized for the Asian delicacy shark-fin soup. In shark finning, fishermen chop the fins of the animals and dump the sharks back into the sea.

[Wilms]

4. But we eat a lot of tuna.

And the article points out that a lot of shark are caught up in that enterprise.

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. Your damned fucking right we should....

when NOT doing so brings about the god damned extinction of a species that has more right to be on this earth than we do!@!