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IWMC
World Conservation Trust |
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"Science War"
Chapter 1
Wide Roaming Sharks...
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| Under this title, IWMC is presenting a case of
the abuse and misuse of science by activists, to illustrate that their goals
and the strategies used to achieve them, are neither in the public interest,
nor in concurrence with scientific principles relevant to human health and well
being. We are not alone in this, as the American Medical Association, the
National Academy of Sciences, the US Forest Service, and the Scientific
Committee of the International Whaling Commission, have repeatedly contradicted
the pseudoscientific claims of animal rights and eco-activists. |
Fishermen
know that activists are constantly working to prevent them access to their
resource. In recent years the Audubon Society, branching out from focus on
birds, has joined in the effort, along with the Ocean Conservancy. The issue
now is shark protection, and both recreational and commercial fishermen are
working under strict quota restrictions for three classes of these animals;
large coastal sharks, small coastal sharks, and pelagic, wide roaming species.
These fish migrate seasonally from the north Atlantic down into the gulf of
Mexico, where they are also caught by Cubans and Mexican fishermen.
 The Washington Post (Feb 3, 2002) recently carried a story about yet another
lawsuit to save sharks from people. The Audubon Society and the Ocean
Conservancy are suing the US government in an attempt to get headlines. Their
claim is that US fishermen are taking more sharks than the various populations
can sustain, and the ostensible aim of the current lawsuit is to cut down on
the numbers allowed to be taken.
A previous lawsuit found that current law is meant to protect both fish and
fishermen, and that small boats that specialize in sharks can not easily
re-tool for other species, that such equipment changes would be an undue
hardship, and that the tonnage quotas were not harmful. Tons of shark meat of
different species are recorded by both Mexico and Cuba, and US fishermen are
currently restricted to certain tonnage limits per year for the highly
migratory large coastal shark species.
The Federal Shark Management plan is to take animals in such numbers that
they can sustain themselves. Activists dispute the numbers, and so the public
must bear the expense of defending current quotas. Not only sharks are
affected, however, and this is something that many in the public do not
realize. Some other fisheries are affected, because sharks are often
inadvertently caught in gill nets or on long lines. Thus, some fishermen are
penalized if sharks are too frequent by-catches in their quest for tuna,
billfish, or other species. The end result is that fishermen are targeted and
economically impacted, regardless of presence or absence of any merits of the
suit against the government that would prohibit or cut down on shark fishing.
Highly migratory species are often the subject of discussion and
conservation policy among range states. We advocate fair and honest scientific
assessment of shark species in order that reasonable quotas be set and that
fishermen may continue to ply their trade and enjoy both recreational and
financial benefits of this resource. No one wants to see ocean imbalance and
the eradication of shark species. We believe that on-going scientific
assessment, in conjunction with active fishermen's records, is essential in
order to make safe and fair decisions on shark fishing quotas for US and other
fishermen. The constant law suits against the government do not
"help" sharks, they do hurt fishermen, they cost the public a lot of
tax dollars, and they highlight yet another scheme to bring attention to those
NGOs that thrive on publicity as a technique for fund raising.
This is not a positive aspect of environmental conservation, and fishermen's
organizations should do all they can to bring these issues to the attention of
the public. 
| "Science Wars" |
Chapter 2-Water
Irrigation... |
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Chapter 3-Milking the
Cows... and |
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Chapter 4-Captive or
Wild Lynx |
| will be
published in the upcoming editions of the IWMC Newsletters. |
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