[source]

It took John Vasbinder 40 years of surfing before he got Shark jammed. On June 7, he finally graduated as he was paddling out in Cocoa Beach, Florida. His bite required 45 stitches. Some have said his jammer was a Bull Shark. But it looks like he got off pretty easy for a Bull Shark.

I am predicting that this statistical upswing in Shark incidents will continue until decadent macho Shark tournaments cease in the United States. The 22nd annual Star Island Yacht Club Shark tournament happened last week in Long Island, New York. Twenty four Sharks were hauled in and hoisted aloft for the crowd of drunken spectators to gawk at and smell. The yacht club claims that the tournament is “environmentally sensitive” because they have weight limits. Big deal. Frank Mundus--the king of Shark killing himself--says that out of 12 Sharks caught and released, 10 end up dying do to hook damage to their stomachs. "Environmentally sensitive" indeed. Some of the anti-Shark tournament protesters have received death threats. Classy!

This asshole's Blue Shark murder didn't count because it was under the weight limit. Nice job, cocksucker.

Civilized people showing their support for common sense.

The three species most targeted in these tournaments, Blue Sharks, Mako Sharks, and Thresher Sharks are all threatened.

Read.

--Sharky

technorati tags: Shark fishing, Long Island, New York, Shark Bites, Cocoa Beach, Florida, Fishing Tournaments, Montauk, Frank Mundus, Blue Sharks, Thresher Sharks, Mako Sharks, Bull Sharks

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Please somebody pinch one of my claspers, I think I'm dreaming. For the second time in a week, a U.S. government organization moved to protect Sharks. First they make Shark finning operations harder to operate. Now this:

On July 24, new Shark fishing regulations go into effect. Two species in particular are being protected. The annual quota for Sandbar Sharks--a species prized by scumbags for their large fins--is lowered 85 percent. The annual quota for Porbeagle Sharks--a species prized by the French for their flesh--will be tightened even further, from 92 metric tons to 1.7.

Both these species of Sharks have suffered greatly in recent years from the insatiable Asian appetite for Shark fin soup. Now if the NOAA would only tighten quotas on Thresher, Mako, and Blue Sharks--the species most prized by decadent Shark fishing tournaments--us Sharks might have a fighting chance.

But just so this post isn't all environmental and educational, look a new picture of Bruce Grime's thumb. It was nearly bitten off by a Bull Shark in May. He was the one that actually survived Mexican Shark scare 2008 in Zihuatanejo.

Yuck! Clean your fingernails, Bruce!
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Mmmmm....tight regulations,

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Sandbar Sharks, Porbeagle Sharks, Bull Sharks, Thresher Sharks, Mako Sharks, Blue Sharks, NOAA, Zihuatanejo, Mexico, Atlantic Ocean, Chinese Food, Shark Fin Soup

Probably. The Washington-based Lenfest Ocean Program report, using records from fishermen's logs, shark landings, museum specimens, and visual sightings to estimate the number and size of the Mediterranean sharks during the past two centuries has shown that the number of Sharks on the Mediterranean has fallen by 97 percent over two centuries. Who cares? We all should because when the top of the food chain is removed, the middle of the food chain is able to eat up all the bottom of the food chain all willy-nilly. Once that happens, the whole ocean collapses. Once the ocean collapses, so does your little society of hairless Apes.

While we love to beat on recreational and trophy Shark fishermen all day and night, because their activities are mean, decadent, and unnecessary, the main reason that Sharks are in this much peril is the insatiable East Asian appetite for Shark Fin Soup.

"The Mediterranean has been fished since Roman times, it's a historical thing," said Ferretti. "But now [modern] fishing has a big impact on the shark population."

[Source]

Exponential Destruction

Here is the really scary statistic: While Sharks as a whole are down 97% in the Mediterranean, Hammerheads and Thresher Sharks are down more than 99.99%!

Now back to your celebrity news,

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Mediterranean Sea, Thresher Sharks, Hammerhead Sharks, endangered species, Shark Fin Soup, Chinese Food

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Long Island Cares Inc.--The Harry Chapin Food Bank, said it will no longer accept the 6,000 pounds of Shark meat it has received annually from Long Island Shark tournaments.

"We made a decision not to be a beneficiary [of the donated meat] because of the potential risk to women and children and the potentially inhumane way in capturing these fish. So we believe we are doing the right thing," said Paule Pachter, executive director of the Hauppauge-based, non-profit anti-hunger organization.

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This is a big deal because some Shark fishing tournaments have long been hiding behind food bank charity giving as a defense to justify their decadent and cruel bloodsport. While Shark fishing tournaments are not the biggest killer of Sharks, so many of the species targeted by Shark tournaments are critically endangered--particularly Mako, Probeagle, Thresher, and Blue Sharks. This is not Shark killing on a commercial scale, but it is still completely unnecessary Shark killing. On the "people" level, the largest recipients of the donated Shark meat from food banks are pregnant women and children. Pregnant women and children are precisely the populations at risk of mercury poisoning from eating Shark meat. Large Shark fishing tournaments often give out hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money. If the organizers of these tournaments were so concerned with feeding the poor they wouldn't need to kill Sharks to do it.

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Porbeagle Sharks, Thresher Sharks, Mako Sharks, Blue Sharks, Shark Fishing, Long Island, charity, Mercury Poisoning

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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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