diver.net

Large Great Hammerhead Killed - Celebrated by Media


JuJee Beads, handmade flamework glass beads


[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ California Scuba Diving BBS ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by Captain Kevin on May 07, 2009 at 17:13:15:

The attached link is a news story from Florida about an angler that caught a 13 ft., 1000+ lb. Great Hammerhead shark. The congratulatory news story is exactly the kind of ignorant news reporting that makes me want to vomit on my TV.

I wrote a letter of complaint to the station’s general comments line and their programming director. I would humbly like to request everyone else who frequents Diver.net to do the same. Please be respectful in doing so, as profanity-laden rants will result in no positive outcome. I do however feel it is important that we let this station know how destructive this type of trophy fishing is.

General comments: comments@nbc-2.com
Programming Director Deborah Abbott: dabbott@water.net

The text from my letter follows…please feel free to use any portion or all of it if you so desire!

Also, my thanks to Lawrence Groth for bringing this story to our attention via Facebook.

====================================

Hello,

I am writing to you about a recent story you did about Bucky Dennis who caught a 1000+ lb. Great Hammerhead shark off the Florida coast. It is disheartening to say the least to see the destruction of a threatened species celebrated in the news media. With sharks worldwide being destroyed to the tune of 100,000,000+ animals per year and some species facing 90% reductions in their populations, this type of trophy capture is simply inexcusable.

Sharks such as this Great Hammerhead do not reproduce quickly nor do they have large litters, specifically because of their status as an apex predator. The natural ecosystem has evolved this way for very specific reasons…sustainability of population being the most important. The magnificent specimen shown in your video was actually probably a younger adult and had not been at reproducing age for more than a few years. By targeting these larger “trophy” animals, fishermen are destroying the very individuals that have at least a chance of sustaining the population. As more and more larger sharks are caught, no reproducing animals are left to repopulate the ecosystem being targeted.

Please stop your glorification of these fishing activities, and instead educate the public about the worldwide plight of sharks which is reaching critical levels. Nearly all large shark species are now Red-Listed as at least threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). That should be the real story here.

Sincerely,

Kevin J. Sullivan



Follow Ups:


Name:
E-Mail:
Subject:
Message:
Optional Link URL:
Optional Link Title:
Optional Image URL:
Post Background Color: White     Black
Post Area Page Width: Normal   Full
You must type in the
scrambled text key to
the right.
This is required to
help prevent spam bots
from flooding this BBS.		 capcha
Text Key:

      


diver.net