Taras Grescoe is Sharky Approved.
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Taras Grescoe has managed to publish a book that matters in a publishing industry full of romance novels, right wing manifestos, self-help, and movie novelizations. He is the author of Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood. Most of the seafood sold in North America is either chock full of heavy metals, contributing to the extinction of species, or both.

Bottomfeeder explains it all, showing you wish fisheries are sustainable, which fish are actually still healthy for you, and what you can do and what you can eat to save what is left of our bleeding oceans.

Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood. Support The Chum Slick: Buy it from us!

Three of the top offenses--eating Blue Fin Tuna, Atlantic Halibut, and Atlantic Cod. Thank the popularity of sushi for the impending extinction of the Blue Fin, and thank the piss-poor management by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Guess what his number one oceanic offense is? You guessed it--eating Shark!

Click here for more on Sean.

North Americans fly off the handle when they see that they eat endangered Tigers in China, or endangered Gorillas in the Congo, but don't seem to see any problem with taking down a few Tuna Rolls at their local sushi joint. IT IS THE SAME THING.

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Shark Finning, Tigers, Gorillas, China, Bottomfeeder, seafood, Congo, Blue Fin Tuna, Cod, Halibut, Sean Ohearn Gimenez, Galapagos, Taras Grescoe, Sushi, Japanese Food, Canada

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Now if we can only give the death penalty to long line fishermen.

An anti-Shark Finning bill was approved by a voice vote by the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday.

“There’s a hell of a lot of two-legged sharks around that are a lot more dangerous than the ones with fins in the ocean,” said Neil Abercrombie , D-Hawaii.

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Shark finning has technically been illegal in the United States since the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000. The new bill closes a loophole that allowed for the transfer of Shark fins at sea from vessel to vessel without the corresponding Shark carcasses. This bullshit is now illegal. This will make it much harder for large scale Shark finning operations to get their bloody cargo back to Asia for Shark fin soup. The panel also adopted by voice vote an amendment by Eni F.H. Faleomavaega , D-Am. Samoa, to require all fishermen to land their sharks with the fins still attached. This is a minor victory for Sharks. Huzzah.

Try to make soup out of this.

Stamp out culinary barbarism,

--Sharky

technorati tags: Shark finning, Shark Fin Soup, Chinese Food, Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, Somoa, Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii, Deomocrats, House of Representatives, Sharks, Great White Sharks

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With summer comes the slew of east coast Shark fishing tournaments, with their obligatory cast of rich drunk trophy fishermen and cheering crowds of savages high on blood and Budweiser at the weigh-ins. Great. This weekend brings us the Mako Mania tournament in Ocean City Maryland. Contestants will be vying to "earn" prize money by killing threatened species. Feel free to pay a visit to Bahia Marina on 21st street in Ocean City to hassle these decadent "sportsmen."

Read this, I can't make it up:

Makos are some of the wildest fighters in the ocean. Inexperienced captains are often afraid to bring one on board because they can suddenly come back to life hours after being brought in. Many will lash the shark to the side or back of the boat, and often they will shoot it first. Makos are notorious for surviving multiple gunshots to the head.

Both the OC Shark Tournament and Mako Mania have divisions for thresher sharks, which are stunningly beautiful creatures. They have tails that are usually as long as their bodies and they use them to knock out fish before eating them. Threshers have been seen trailing boats knocking baits around before they devour them. One year, a thresher was put up on the scales and then cut open, at which point a live baby shark came tumbling out of the mother's belly.

(For the conservation-minded folks sitting in on this blog, both tournaments have highly encouraged release divisions. Very few sharks that are hooked will be brought to the scales. As far as I know, the baby shark was returned to the ocean safe-and-sound.)

Source.

Uh...Yeah...I'm sure the baby Shark is alright.

Meanwhile, while Americans are killing Sharks for sport, New Zealand's Green Party is trying valiantly to get Shark finning banned in their waters. Shark finning is not illegal in New Zealand, which is sad and strange. The next step ensuring that there will be a Shark or two left in the sea, is for a UN resolution internationally banning Shark finning.

If it bleeds, it must be profitable.

Read.

If it seems like we have been a bit slow on the posts lately, it's because we have had a bunch of shitty social obligations. *Sigh* all tomorrow's parties...


--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Mako Sharks, Thresher Sharks, UN, New Zealand, Ocean City Maryland, Shark tournaments

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