Oslob - Eco-Terrorism?

This is apparently Eco-Terrorism!

Wow!

How I hate that shit!

No not the fashion shoot - the bloody frothy ramblings of the Shark huggers that are once again risking to sink a brilliant eco-tourism venture that is providing for income to communities who would otherwise remain poor and very likely resort to poaching those very same animals!

It's EXACTLY like when they established Whale swimming in Tonga - when the usual NGO idiots started to uhmm and aaah about not wanting people to interact with the Whales, the Tongans said we either eat them or we swim with them - and that was that, making this one of the preferred destinations of the image hunters and establishing one of the very few viable tourism attractions of the kingdom.

I've posted about the Oslob Whale Shark tourism here - and here is once again Shawn's award-winning video.

Shawn's excellent report is here.

There are also this equally balanced report and this report. And finally, please peruse this report by the local NGO that is against the feeding but is nevertheless using this as an opportunity for data collection - the latter a tad hypocritical if you ask me!
Oh and of course, we've got ourselves the usual frothy PETITIONS and APPEALS!

Long story short?

If Shawn's shoot where like all conservation photographers, he tried to raise awareness, and this via a novel approach, and where no Shark was harassed let alone hurt is ECO-TERRORISM,

what, please, is this!

So let's be perfectly clear about one thing.

THAT, not happy Sharks frolicking in the wilderness, or whatever, is the alternative to Whale Shark tourism - and it's once again simply appalling to witness how all that frothy activism is being totally misdirected instead of being invested into fighting the continued poaching of Whale Sharks and the continued legal slaughtering of Mantas in that very same region!

So, is everything perfect in Oslob?

Certainly not!

Like in so many other Whale Shark and Manta tourism destinations like e.g. Hanifaru or Holbox, the real challenge lays in adequate management - and in the case of Oslob, the latter is still evolving and in no way ideal. But that can be fixed!
In a wider context, this touches upon the Anthropogenic Allele Effect and the Rarity Paradox - and from an industry perspective, it's about multi-user sites where competition and one-upmanship ultimately lead to situations harming the very animals the industry relies upon.

In brief, it's often not so much about WHAT one does but rather, about HOW one does it, meaning that there is a requirement for adequate protocols and in many cases, oversight by the authorities.

I've just finished reading the new Techera and Klein, and here is an illustration of the Australian Whale Shark swimming regulations from that paper.

I find the flash photography ban crap as flashlight is NOTHING compared to the sun - but whatever, overall the protocols probably make sense.

And these are the procedures in Oslob.
Click for detail. See - they are even MORE stringent than in Oz!

And the feeding?

This very much reminds me of the controversy surrounding the provisioning of predatory Sharks where when put to the test, all of the reservations have ultimately been discredited as Shark-hugging hogwash - that is, provided that the operators had implemented adequate safety protocols!
Once again, it's not about the WHAT but about the HOW!

Case in point, this anti-feeding "info"-graphic - click for detail.

• 1. Incorrect - those Whale Sharks only consume a small portion of their caloric needs from hand feeding, meaning they get most of their food from natural foraging behavior 

• 2. Utter balderdash - Whale Sharks spend the majority of their life at or near the surface and are incidentally often seen feeding vertically in natural feeding situations

• 3. These are subadults that do not (yet?) migrate. They inhabit the general region and incidentally,  most of them do not reside in Oslob but only visit for a few days before moving on.

• 4. Speculative - much like the infamous "associating humans and food" meme, this needs to be substantiated by research - and BTW, the onus of proving those assertion lays with those who make them! WS are surface dwellers and naturally curious, meaning that accidental boat strikes are frequent everywhere. Incidentally, the boats feeding the Sharks do not have propellers.

• 5. Generic clap trap - let's then address what is REALLY threatening the oceans before wasting all that frothy energy on minutiae!

And so it goes - see the Infinite Monkey Theorem!

To quote Shawn himself.

Poaching, fast moving large vessels and drift nets are killing whale sharks and driving them toward extinction. Hand feeding is NOT threatening them in such way. What Oslob offers is the opportunity for poor local communities to earn a living from conserving whale sharks, vs killing them. 

That this challenges some peoples idealistic principles of never feeding wildlife is both naive and narrow minded.

Amen brother!

And this shit - let's just hope that the consultations will lead to a change of mind and that the feeding will be allowed to continue. Provided that robust protocols are put into place!

Alas, I'm not terribly hopeful.

The NOISE by the screechy Sharkitarians appears to be pushing the politicos into engaging in populist activism. And if so, I fully expect the consequences to be devastating - for the region and ultimately for those Sharks! 

And whilst this is going down, the operators in Cendrawasih Bay are laughing all the way to the bank!

To be continued no doubt!

Kaimana - new Whale Shark Hotspot?

Watch.

Very much like in Cenderawasih Bay, isn't it.

For those of you who may be worried that this will result in yet another incidence of eco-terrorism, worry not: a team of researchers and conservationists are looking into the issue and have already developed a code of conduct.

Like in the case of Oslob, I'm all for it.

Story here.

Air and Water - Awesome!

Source.

Behold!
Yes this would be Eco-Terrorism in action!

Roberta Mancino here.

Enjoy!

Conservation - Asia Bashing?

Click for detail.

STOP FINNING ASSHOLE?
Think the badge will really impact the international Shark fin trade?
The bad news: think again! The good news: at least it was produced by PangeaSeed, a Japanese (as opposed to Western) Shark conservation org!

Which brings me straight over to this most excellent post by Patric.
Indeed, who are we to tell the Asians what to eat, or how to manage their very own resources - the more as we have, and continue to amply prove how bad we are at doing the same in our own back yard! Baltic Sea anybody? Mediterranean? Bears, Wolves, Otters, Lynxes, let alone Wisent in Western Europe? Virgin forests in the US and Europe? And the list goes on and on and on and on!
Here's a small reminder of what we have done to our oceans!



But I'm digressing as usual.
The fact is that in all those conservation initiatives, terrestrial and marine, it always boils down to the same basic points:

• Sustainability not Prohibition
• Legislation but also Enforcement - flanked by Mitigation and Education
• our absolute willingness not to demonize the "other" side, but to engage in Dialogue and to accept pragmatic Compromises instead

Is that so difficult to comprehend?

When it comes to Asia in particular.
Yes, the bulk of the demand for many endangered species originates there - but the perpetrators are others and the ecological damage happens elsewhere!
Please re-read this with respect to the Northern Bluefin! And when it comes to Sharks, if you haven't already, check out this report by TRAFFIC and Pew about who are the biggest killers of Sharks!

And then, there's this - and yes I will never stop repeating myself!
You gotta differentiate between markets that are demand limited and those that are supply limited.

The poster child for the former is whaling.
The demand for Whale meat by the Japanese and Korean consumers is already low, and dwindling. With that in mind, there really is no commercial justification for sending those expensive fleets to Antarctica, nor is there really any remaining strong commercial incentive for killing those Dolphins in Taji. Instead of the strident and uncompromising activism that many, even within the most passionate conservation circles define as unacceptable eco-terrorism and that has led to a nationalistic counter push by the Japanese authorities, the most promising strategy is to target the last remaining demand - whilst at the same time, appeasing the Japanese by granting them a face saving official quota of non-endangered Whales like Minkes and yes, Dolphins.
In that regard, I was totally impressed when I read this statement by Ady Gil of ex Sea Shepherd affiliation

Ecorazzi: Can you tell us a bit more about what you’re doing in Taiji?
The reports I’ve read is that your intent on “building bridges”. Many have asked how that might be different as opposed to what SS has done there over the last several months.

Ady Gil: The only way to make a change in Japan is to have the Japanese people want a change. We can not come here to their country and TELL them what to do. As horrible as the dolphin hunt is, and I have seen it with my own eyes, it is what they do. No different than factory farming in the US. If there was a culture of “Cow Loving”, if we thought that cows are “cute”, if cows played with balls and hoops, we would feel the same about cow slaughter.

The fact is that the majority of the people in Japan love dolphins. Tangalooma in Australia offers its guests a better way to interact with dolphins, other people only get to see them in aquariums. Japan has 100 of the 500 aquariums world wide, (data that I got from an official person in Japan).

We have posted statistics about Taiji. Fisheries are a declining business here.
It just went down from about 12% to about 8%, in 5 short years, of total business revenue in the city. Building the bridges will possibly open their eyes to use the treasure that they have, hundreds of dolphins in the oceans, to bring people here, to watch and swim with dolphins, and revive the economy in Taiji.

Amazing - and totally agree that this is the way forward!

Not so when it comes to supply limited markets!
Examples? Shark fins, Tuna but also, Tigers, Bear gall bladders and especially, Elephant Ivory!
I've added the latter three as perfect examples of how useless it is to try and address the problem by trying to curb the demand by re-educating the consumers. The fight for Tigers and Elephants is among the oldest of conservation initiatives, with all species listed under CITES I - and yet and despite a plethora of initiatives, celebrity endorsements and petitions, and even public condemnation by China itself, Asian demand continues to drive the species to the brink of extinction.

Why?
Because to be successful, one would have to re-educate hundreds of millions (!!!!) of consumers!
Please re-visit this and watch the following video posted by Patric: THIS is the scope of what we're up against when it comes to Sharks - do you really think that a few hundred posters, those celebrity endorsements and those "stop finning" initiatives will make a difference?
Why do some continue to insist on those very same failed strategies?



Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

The solution, as practiced today in terrestrial conservation?
Protect the animals where they are being hunted - along with, yes you guessed it, mitigation (like that of compensating would be poachers, establishing tourism ventures that provide for jobs, etc) and education!
Sound familiar?

Yes, that too is gonna be bloody hard!
The trade in endangered species, whether legal or not, is highly lucrative and there will always be obstacles, push backs and setbacks.
But that's precisely why I so strongly believe that we need to pool and prioritize ALL of our resources and focus ALL of our energies on those local initiatives - and that at the same time, we need to stop squandering them elsewhere!

Please, give it some serious thought - it really is the only way forward.

PS Richard's take here: always the elder statesman!

Greedy evil Fishermen?

From the daily flood of images.

Malaita, Solomon Islands.

Chelsea Harris These ppl should be slaughtered the same way they are slaughtering our precious animals

Tamil Nadu, India

Inhambane, Mozambique.

Alberto Ruben Paredes Guerra Damn motherfucker...!!! I wanna kill him..!!

Drikie Strydom But dammit we need a Hitler to tackle the Chinese.. 

Just great isn't it - the images and the comments!

The cold fact is that for those local fishermen, those animals are nothing but a resource. The cold fact is that unless those fishermen are provided with alternatives and/or unless those resources are being protected or at least properly managed, the indiscriminate killing will continue.

And the frothy comments by the Facebook activists?

You may want to read Cool Hall Head's comment at the end of this op ed about the Canadian seal hunt and you may also want to read this piece about hypocrisy! 

Indeed, a class of sly racism colours these discussions! And it's not only the hypocrisy and the racism - the bloody noise and abject ignorance of both global and local circumstances is not only achieving nothing, it is actually only making things even worse! Case in point: read this surprising post on Rick Barry's EII blog - kudos!
 

As Chuck puts it in his inaugural post on SFS,  

sharks (are) finally closing in on the kind of conservation attention that has previously belonged almost exclusively to marine mammals....As a result, even conservation-minded fishermen feel like they have to oppose environmentalists, which just keeps the whole unfortunate cycle of opposition going. 

Indeed: welcome to the Dolphinization!

Solutions?

As always, they are no magic global recipes but one has to consider the individual local circumstances instead!

The Solomon Island situation is extremely complicated.

It touches on a whole gamut of issues, among which local culture and tradition, sustainability vs economical progress but also pure and simple greed and corruption at the village level, something we here know all too well from years of enacting conservation at the grass roots level.

It also touches on whether one should pay for conservation whereby everything unravels once the money stops flowing, or whether one should instead promote sustainable long-term conservation projects that pay for themselves, like we've done here. 

That's where the EII has ultimately failed as I see no indication of them having set up any viable long-term alternative, foremost of which the establishment of a local dolphin watching venture that could have provided for sustainable jobs and income. And their Dolphin-safe Tuna initiative? Re-read these posts!

And talking of which.
Does anybody still believe that what is happening in Oslob is Eco-terrorism?
Read this latest article!

The Indian example?

Quite obviously the Shark was initially merely accidental bycatch. Later ignorance, greed and cheating on the part of the fisherman concurred with a lackadaisical attitude by the competent authorities. Chances for the imposition of the Rs 25,000.00 fine so that subsequent fishermen will be deterred? Chances that these incidences will completely stop?

Mozambique?

Please re-read this and if you got the time, watch those videos and also the excellent Shiver - that's the backdrop and there are no easy solutions. Adam Baugh who has taken those horrific pictures knows it and has posted this insightful comment - kudos! 

In the end, it will come down to the commitment of the people on the ground and to whether the Mozambican government can be swayed into enacting adequate Shark management measures - and the way I see it (tho granted, I probably lack adequate insight), chances for the latter are slim indeed!

So what about Chuck's post.

I get and concur with the gist that demonizing fishermen is largely unfair and counterproductive - and yes, when conservationists work with fishermen, the results can be impressive indeed! 

At the same time, as somebody who has traveled extensively throughout the developing world and now lives and tries to enact marine conservation in a developing country, I'm frankly profoundly irritated by the continued apparent total lack of understanding by the SFS folks of the actual circumstances in those countries!

Yes the US (!) fishermen may be largely law abiding citizen.

But this only because they are being curtailed by gigatons of resources invested by NOAA and the NMFS! 

The truth is that when those very same people were not being regulated, they have done what all fishermen will ultimately do: they have caught whatever they could get their hands on and overfished recklessly to the point where some of them have fished themselves into extinction! That does not make them evil - it just makes them fishermen, perfectly respectable ordinary people pursuing their profession and trying to make a living,  tragedy of the commons, cheating and all!

Yes in theory, good sustainable management is better than prohibition.

But in practice, those developing countries do not dispose of the required resources and often also of the political will for adequate implementation, monitoring, enforcement and prosecution! Case in point: this post about Indonesia or this latest statement by a Fijian fisheries official. What does work are MPAs - small and big all the way to sanctuaries!

So for us guys trying to achieve what is possible given the specific circumstances on the ground, those continued statements on a science blog, let alone the sniping in the science journals are at least as unhelpful and irritating as the idiotic clamoring by the sharktivists that those statements are obviously aiming to counteract - the more so as the people making them are supposedly those with the superior brain power!

Love you guys - but you really gotta start thinking about the consequences of what you say!

And one last comment.

Beware of the romantic image of the noble savages pursuing artisanal fishing! 

That may have been sustainable a long time ago, when there were only a few people fishing with primitive means - but now those people are too many, the techniques have been modernized (do outboard engines and nylon gillnets still match the definition?) and above all, the cash economy has created a legion of small commercial as opposed to subsistence fishermen that catch way more than they need for their own consumption.

What has already happened in Asia where millions of small-scale fishermen have strip-mined the oceans and literally eaten the big Fishes into local extinction is starting to happen everywhere, with devastating consequences for biodiversity and ultimately, for those very coastal communities that depend on it.

Those small fishermen, too, are not evil. 

They are just trying to survive, often by whatever means they can find and apparently quite oblivious of the long-term damage (example here) they cause - or maybe they are just pretending to be oblivious and guess what, we'll never really know!
Obviously one of the solutions is awareness and education  - but let there be no doubt that these fisheries require the same degree of management and enforcement as the bigger commercial ones!

Anyway.

Like I said: less clamoring and dogma, more practical and pragmatic solutions for real and complex issues in a real and complex world!

PS Read his post before you go off on your next racist Facebook Rant about how, "brown and yellow people and raping the oceans"...they are not for the most part, what they are doing is surviving, and not in the twice-a-day Skinny Latte manner of Julie from Sea Shepherd (oh how she suffers for sharks), but in the classic, "don't have two dimes to rub together and my folks need to eat," sense.
Wow!