Movement to shut down shark tours in Hawaii grows

Movement to shut down shark tours in Hawaii grows

Article: Movement to Shut Down Hawaii Shark Tours

Things like this get me really angry:

"Federal law – which governs waters between 3 miles to 200 miles from the coast – prohibits feeding sharks off Hawaii and Pacific island territories like American Samoa. Exceptions are made if fishermen are baiting sharks to harvest them or if the feeding is part of government-funded research."

-So you can bait sharks to kill them (harvest is such a gentle term) but not to appreciate them!

Hawaii has been trying to follow Florida's lead in shutting down all organized shark diving. But, it's O.K. to chum them up behind the boat to kill them - State of Florida allows two per boat, per day. I know, it sucks. But we are fighting it anyway.

Well, I know this sounds crazy, but I can see the logic. If your aim is to minimize alteration of wild shark behavior, AND you believe that baiting them alters their behavior, then you have two options:

Don't bait sharks

or

Bait them and then immediately kill them so their behavior isn't "altered" (except for permanently :-(

Not a good choice either way.

James

Sound logic I suppose. Very sad though.

How many people have been killed (incidentally) by sharks ad how many have been killed (incidentally) by politicians. The corollory is: Don't feed politicians.

Although there is considerable debate over feeding vs don't feed affecting shark behavior. The real motivation behind Florida's passing of the law to prohibit feeding of any fish while diving came in part from South Florida's commercial spearfishing sector who wanted dive operations like South Florida Diving Headquarters (for feeding goliath groupers and nurse sharks) out of their way so they can hunt with impunity. Of which included the poaching the same goliath groupers SFDH was feeding.

SFDH tried to get them busted, to little avail only to have the spearfishers warning SFDH to back off, threatening they will put an end to SFDH fish feeds. Which they did by forming the "Ocean Safety Group" and turning it into a crusade, complete with hysterical housewives still remembering the movie Jaws, to the Humane Society (who don't know a thing about sharks) to push legislators for a ban all fish and shark feedings by divers in Florida waters.

Well they won. Divers are not allowed (at least in State Waters) to feed anything to look at them underwater, and goliath groupers are still actively poached in Dade and Broward County waters.

So you have to look to see who is really behind wanting this action. Right now in Florida, commercial fishermen are gearing up to go after more sharks due to new, more stringent catch restrictions coming for grouper and snapper. Looking at the growing situation in Hawaii, one should question who is actually behind the motive to ban shark feeds, even way out in Federal waters.

The Safe Waters Hawaii Site has CDNN all over it. Who knows who they are though?

Some Native Hawaiians consider sharks to be ancestral gods and view feeding them for entertainment to be disrespectful of their culture. Surfers and environmentalists fear the tours will teach sharks to associate people with food — leading to an increase in attacks — while disrupting the ocean's ecological balance. Federal fisheries regulators, meanwhile, are investigating the tours on the grounds that they are illegally feeding sharks.maui jeep tours

Some Native Hawaiians consider sharks to be ancestral gods and view feeding them for entertainment to be disrespectful of their culture.

Surfers and environmentalists fear the tours will teach sharks to associate people with food — leading to an increase in attacks — while disrupting the ocean's ecological balance. Federal fisheries regulators, meanwhile, are investigating the tours on the grounds that they are illegally feeding sharks.maui jeep tours

So what about feeding them and then killing them? I think statistics clearly show no connection beteween baited shark dives and attacks on surfers and swimmers. More people going into the ocean are connected to more attacks.

With the danger of stirring something up here; there is quite some diference beteween baiting and feeding. Repetitive feeding might alter the behaviour of a certain individual. Baiting exploits the natural behaviour of a shark, it's very questionable if it alters it. Serious shark diving operations bait for sharks, they do not feed them.

/christian

Here's some more on the topic:

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/...ark+tour+debate