I was wrong.
The Marshalls are not among the "best" - read the above (= click for detail).
Yes this is not good.
In brief, the Shark protection in the Marshall Islands is quietly being rolled back, and nobody appears to give a rat's ass.
Once again, it's all about the money: the huge earnings, the jobs and the according political clout of the fishing industry versus the money needed for enforcement but also the establishment of alternative livelihoods.
In fact I remember distinctly how back then, Pew strongly suggested that following the designation as a sanctuary, the Marshalls would become a world-renown mecca for shark tourism like Palau - which has very much unsurprisingly not happened as the logistics for running a dive operation there are just simply totally prohibitive.
Once again, it's all about the money: the huge earnings, the jobs and the according political clout of the fishing industry versus the money needed for enforcement but also the establishment of alternative livelihoods.
In fact I remember distinctly how back then, Pew strongly suggested that following the designation as a sanctuary, the Marshalls would become a world-renown mecca for shark tourism like Palau - which has very much unsurprisingly not happened as the logistics for running a dive operation there are just simply totally prohibitive.
And like I said back then, legislation can be reversed - and now it has.
And Pew - anybody anybody?
Yeah, right.
4 comments:
This is something I dealt with on the ground for almost three years. The death of Minister Tony deBrum left one of the only champions for sharks in the Marshalls gone. The International tuna fishing caba (US, China, Japan, Malaysia, Phillipines)l runs Majuro and island politics. When the fleet fills Majuro harbor, and the crews are sitting at local bars with a few drinks in them - the stories they tell are shocking to say the least.
Say what you want about Shark Week, but the sat tags we placed on reef sharks at Bikini proved that rampant illegal shark fishing was happening, and that the usual shark con groups (the ones who helped set up this SINO) were more interested in maintaining the storyline than actual boots on the ground protections. I know, because we gave them our data, and they told us to "shut up."
Sigh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_yliG9pbqE
Yeah and alas totally not surprised!
Anyway, nice to see that yer still peeking into the blog! :)
Are you kidding? How else is an ex shark dive operator owner meant to keep track? You’re like go to reading next to Underwsyer Times!
I think shark conservation dollars have dried up, for a number of different reasons, many of them self-inflicted.
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