Ila - titanic Achievement!

Bravo Ila.
This is stellar, and obviously a labor of love.

So here it is in its entirety.

Recounted with much insight, knowledge, love and respect, behold the complete biography of the irreducible and unequaled Doc: brilliant and iconic Shark researcher, mentor and Mensch - and certifiably nuts to boot! :)

Part one here, two here, three and final here!

Enjoy!

Ila about Doc!

Wow.

This is simply epic stuff.

But considering the subject matter, how could it be otherwise!

Doc is unmatched on so many fronts - not only as a scientist and mentor of many, many generations of stellar Shark researchers, but very much also because he's a real Mensch, razor sharp, incredibly witty and of course a total and utter nut case!

Thank you Ila for the simply herculean effort!

PS: Wolfgang here!

Ila vs David - big Kerfuffle!

Totally uncool - monster tournaments. Source.

Oh my.

Whilst I was away, the shit has hit the fan.

And yes, having been asked and after much deliberation, I'm gonna wade right in - and I may add, with much trepidation! :)

But first.

Please read David and Neil's paper about recreational Shark fishing in Florida. At the time, I did applaud it as the way I read it then, it aims at promoting catch-and-release as a more benign alternative to (lethal) trophy fishing.

After having re-read it, I stand by that judgment.

But of course, there is a big BUT - and here's where Ila comes in!

You must now read her op-ed - not this censored edited version but the original that includes the contentious assertions about the paper and its authors.

You can find it (after a toothy intro) right here.

The reaction was of course immediate.

David did post this and his interventions with Live Science did lead to the abovementioned editing - and totally unsurprisingly, things have since escalated. The usual tribalism is king and there is now a David camp vociferating against the Ila camp and vice versa, and what could have been an interesting discussion has long become irrational and personalized and is really benefiting no-one anymore.

My take?

From what I can discern, the question about whether Fish in general and Sharks in particular feel pain remains largely unresolved, with both camps being able to cite scientific literature in support of their viewpoint - but do those minutiae really matter in the present case?

Whether it is "pain" like we perceive it (from what I can observe, probably not) or another sense of acute discomfort, it is pretty much evident that being hooked is certainly a traumatic event that will always have negative consequences for the Sharks. Even if the animals are being released, some of the consequences will be transient and some will be more permanent and possibly debilitating - but a considerable percentage of the Sharks will die, and this depending on a whole array of variables ranging from the fishing technique to the length of the fight to the handling of the animal to the Sharks' species-specific resilience, etc etc. 

With that in mind, the topic of catch-and-release fishing for Sharks touches on animal welfare all the way to Shark conservation and on that, I'm 100% with Ila in stating that it is certainly never "good".

But here's where I differ - reluctantly!

I am a recreational fisherman. Although I strictly fish for food, and this only for non-threatened species, I'm not gonna try to deflect and obfuscate and state clearly that I certainly do so principally for the thrill and the challenge. I understand that this will disappoint some purists, but this is how it is. I could also add that for obvious reasons (= I love Sharks and yes, they are not Trout!) and because technically, Shark fishing sucks, I'm totally against targeting Sharks - but that's not the point.

The point is that there is thousands upon thousands of people like me. The point is that in this real world we live in as opposed to some idealistic but equally unrealistic utopia, they constitute an economically important, powerful and well organized force whereby if we really want to further the cause of Shark conservation among the recreational fishermen, we must learn to work with and not against them - re-read this.

Again: reluctantly - but that's the only viable strategy!

David and Neil know that.

I've now followed them for many a year and there has been considerable evolution - incidentally, like with yours truly, read these posts bottom-to-top! The net result of their efforts and those of many other equally evolving Shark conservation advocates has been, among others, the reforming of several kill tournaments, the establishment of the Shark Free Marinas Initiative (again, read bottom-to-top), the adoption of length- instead of weight records by the land-based Shark fishermen, etc - by no means perfect but still a notable step in the right direction. 

With that in mind and like their recent paper against weight records, the chastised article is not proof of their affiliation to nefarious fishing interests like asserted but rather, a testament to David and Neil's advocacy of positive, albeit (only) gradual and organic reform!

And one last thought if I may.

Whereas the Hammerschlag labs are simply brilliant in their outreach, they continue to fail quite miserably in handling critique, be it ever so benign. Guys, in the softest possible way: if you publicly circulate your research in the mass- and social media, you must a) develop a better strategy for dealing with the inevitable, equally public and possibly unsubstantiated criticism and b) develop a thicker skin - and I can certainly spare myself the examples as I'm sure you understand!

Or not? :)

End of wading!

Comments policy: read this! :)

PS - Martin here!
PPS - David's final comments here!
 

Shark Porn in New Zealand!

Watch the video - nothing has changed! Source.

And I cite.

Discovery's angle seems to hinge on the fear people have of the unknown, and especially the unknown in the water where they swim. Shark Week has been so good at tweaking and magnifying this fear, that generations of viewers who grew up watching the show are afraid to go in the water...

The problem is not only that there is a fatal prejudice against sharks, but that it is not even recognized.
In the case of other animals, such as snakes, everyone knows that there is a deep bias against them, but in the case of sharks, the stark contrast between sharks as they are portrayed, and sharks as they really are is unseen.

The public actually believes that sharks behave the way they are shown on Shark Week.

Indeed, and bravo Ila!
 

Watch what these people do to New Zealand's GWS.

Think that those Sharks are behaving naturally around boats, or have they been amped up intentionally in order to create all that idiotic drama - and how does this disrespectful rubbish adequately illustrate those past 10 years of stellar research by NIWA and DOC?

Yes it's same old same old, pure Shark Porn.

Have you read this comments thread?

Pitchforks and Flaming Brands is obviously an insider, and she knows what she is talking about. Shark Week is not some amorphous entity, it is people - and together with Sorensen's small team who defines the overall direction (= ever more exploitative garbage), those folks she calls out are definitely some of the worst serial perpetrators.
 

And like an old broken record, let me repeat.

Here are my own questions to fellow Shark diving operators and conservationists.

• Are we gonna continue pretending this aint happening?

• Are we gonna continue watching that shit?

• Are we the operators gonna continue enabling it?

• Are we gonna continue giving our business to operators that do?

• Are we gonna continue associating with those people?

Is anybody, ever, gonna learn the obvious lessons?

The good news?

From a conservation point of view -and here I differ with Ila- it thankfully matters not!

Oceana?

They got every reason to smile - well done Alibaba!

And I cite.

The incident has shown why communication is so important.
I hope that Oceana sends its apologies to Mr. Jack Ma personally after deliberately connecting him with the manta ray profiteering. Jack Ma and people like him, who consistently make the moral choice, should be acknowledged and thanked, particularly in such a sensitive context as the Asian market and shark finning. Alibaba has become a beacon of hope to us who have had faith all along that if the Chinese people only learned the truth about shark finning, they would change the recipe for their special soup.

Bravo Ila, spot on - it's high time for some accountability here!
It really looks like Oceana has committed a major gaffe by launching a petition without ever bothering to first do their due diligence, let alone get in contact with the petitionee.

Wolfgang has then resolved the whole issue with one single e-mail message.
I must say that I concur with his assessment: at least prima vista, this very much looks like an exercise in self serving hot air that has now sorely backfired. Having checked, Oceana is not a partner in the iconic Manta Ray of Hope project and having missed that train, there may have been pressure to be seen as doing something - very much like in the case of Shark conservation which is the current big thing and where everybody and his dog, and the dog of his dog are jumping on the bandwagon. Having noticed the last minute vociferating by Oceana in Florida, this after others had done all the ground work, I would not be surprised at all - and to think that like Mark, I used to be a fan! :(
But I don't know the facts and will defer my final judgment until I see what happens next. For now, the petition is still online which may be an indication of the fact that somebody there is either deaf, stubborn or stupid, or all of the above.

Talking of which, it may be even simpler.
I had to laugh out loud when I saw the name Elisabeth Griffin.
Remember her, the blissfully unrepentant Ms sippy champagny of African Elephant and US geography fame? May this be nothing more than yet another one of her blunders?

But I'm clearly speculating.
As always we shall see won't we!

PS Oceana have decided to spin this & are screaming Victory!
And now, thanks to your efforts...?
Where have I seen that MO before... and like there, I am very much not impressed!

PS2 Ila's take right here!