Is shark finning the answer to shark finning?
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Cruising behind him
Global shark catch is staggering. As many as 73 million sharks are taken from the ocean each year; most are relieved of their fins and dumped back in the water while still alive. These beautiful and important predators now face serious threats from our wanton harvesting, mostly to satisfy the demand for shark fin soup.
First and foremost this is tragic simply in terms of human decimation of biodiversity. Excepting that ecological concern, there are real reasons to worry from an entirely anthropocentric standpoint. For one, sharks provide ecotourism benefits to many coastal economies, as divers pay substantially to see them. Also, as apex predators, a decline in shark populations can lead to explosions of other species on lower trophic levels, which can threaten ecosystems of commercial importance For example, fewer sharks lead to more rays which lead to less scallops for us to sell for dipping in butter.
Is there an answer? Shark sanctuaries are fantastic; they represent the ideal of conservation. However, given problems with enforcement and the potential for bans to simply displace degradation rather than curtail it, national prohibitions don’t seem realistic as a complete solution.
I argue, rather, that we need to recognize — at least in the interim — the reality that shark finning will likely continue. We would do well then to incentivize conservation and better management so that fishermen and fleets develop an interest in preserving rather than over-harvesting. In this class paper, I lay out the economic reasoning for a nation-by-nation transferable shark fishing quota system.
This would push harvests toward social and biological optimums; in conjunction with marine protected areas and fishing best practice standards, a quota system might actually slow the destruction of shark populations worldwide.
It’s not a particularly palatable option for shark lovers (myself included). Under a quota system, some number of sharks like the one above will still be killed for an overpriced, elitist broth. But it also might do better to ensure that a sustainable population of sharks sticks around.
Tags: conservation, economics, ecuador, environment, fisheries, fishing, galapagos, galapagos shark, ifq, individual transferable quotas, itq, marine protected areas, ocean, photography, quota, scuba diving, shark, shark fin soup, shark finning, wildlife
And we’re back… tanned and tired but a certified divemaster
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under india
This week I’ve returned to the dusty, human crush of Delhi after more than three weeks on Havelock Islandtraining as a divemaster. I spent my time interning at a dive shop — the very one where I learned to dive a little more than a year ago.
That meant long hours — 12-hour days — of managing divers, helping lead dives, sorting/cleaning/lugging gear, skills tests, timed swimming trials, science and protocol exams and, thankfully, a fair bit (more than 40 logged in the three weeks) of diving. I’m now a certified Enriched Air diver and one posted envelope away from being a card-carrying, certified PADI divemaster.
The above photo, by the way, is my reflection in another diver’s bubble’s on a descent 100 feet or so to the bottom at Johnny’s Gorge, one of our celebrated dive sites. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: andaman and nicobar, divemaster training, environment, fishing, graduate school, havelock, india, johnny's gorge, nitrox, ocean, padi, photography, scuba diving, weight loss
Don’t eat this cucumber
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Stop rapacious harvesting of me
Sea cucumbers are gradually being threatened by man due to overharvesting and destructive fishing tactics.
This guy, from the bay at San Cristobal, in the Galapagos Islands is safe, but many aren’t. Please don’t support this trade unless you know it to be sustainable.
Tags: aquaculture, ecuador, fishing, food, galapagos, ocean, photography, san cristobal, scuba diving, sea cucumber, sustainable, wildlife
Seafood tonight? Don’t order the grouper
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
What I believe is a blacktip grouper off the coast of North Seymour, Galapagos. Though this fish might earn a reprieve from heavy fishing because it lives in national park waters, groupers the world over are under threat from catches. They’re valued as a tasty meal leading to over-fishing and habitat destruction.
Source your seafood, people. Yes, fishing is a livelihood for coastal people in developing and developed countries a like, but we need better measures to conserve fish and, more importantly, their ocean ecosystem. That’s a major reason why I’m applying even now to marine conservation and sustainable development graduate school programs.
Tags: conservation, ecuador, fish, fishing, galapagos, grouper, ocean, photography, scuba diving, sustainable development, wildlife
Sea lions and fishmongers
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Begging for scraps
The small-scale fish market in Puerto Ayora draws a crowd every day as fishermen bring, gut and hawk in their catch. And that’s not just a crowd of people.
Sea lions and pelicans also gather to pilfer and pinch scraps and sometimes whole fish. It’s a comical scene, as the fishermen are not technically allowed — National Park rules — to swat or otherwise harm the pesky-but-cute critters.
This is small-scale fishing that is generally far more sustainable (and in the Galapgos, more regulated) than elsewhere in the developing world. It’s also a significant part of the local economy, one affected by tourism, as restaurants and, at least, boats buy locally.
But having been underwater for many hours in the islands and having talked to a number of activists, it seems clear that the ocean flora and fauna remain under significant pressure.
More photos of the fishmongers below. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: economy, ecuador, environment, fishing, galapagos, market, photography, puerto ayora, sea lion, wildlife
Now that might be sustainable fishing
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Old man and the sea
This old man was fresh from his dinghy, which bobbed at anchor in the Puerto Lopez bay. As much as I think widespread fishing remains unsustainable, I’m supportive of small-scale local catches, particularly since the lives of so many poor depend on the sea.
The trick — and what I intend to devote graduate school study to — is finding that appropriate balance between commerce and conserving the planet’s cardiovascular system (i.e., the oceans). Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: conservation, development, ecuador, environment, fish, fishing, ocean, photography, poverty, puerto lopez, sustainable
Highly evolved predator killed by highly ignorant predator
Posted by Adam Jadhav | Filed under ecuador
Bycatch
Here I go again railing against the ills of bycatch. Above is a closeup of the beautiful but dead juvenile scalloped hammerhead, a shark that has evolved over eons. Yet like most animals, it has not been prepared for the rapacious habits of man.
Becoming a diver made me appreciate the environment infinitely more, and close encounters like this, in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador, gave me the visceral push to become completely vegetarian and abhor the present trajectory of commercial fishing. Continue reading this entry » » »
Tags: bycatch, conservation, development, ecuador, environment, fish, fishing, photography, puerto lopez, sustainable
