SPECIAL REPORT: Sharks In Trouble
March 10, 2016
On February 27th 2016, the Mission Blue team was greeted by a dismal sight as we arrived at Bahia Los Frailes in Cabo Pulmo Marine Park: strewn across the beach were the hacked carcasses of approximately 20 sharks of several species. Sitting on the sand was a box full of shark fins, no doubt destined for Asian markets. The issue of shark fishing is complex, on both a conservation and social level. See it firsthand in the video below.
How can shark slaughter happen in a marine park that is purportedly “no-take”? Carlos Ramon Godinez Reyes, Director of the Cabo Pulmo Marine Park (CONANP), was with us and questioned the fishermen. They produced a permit and asserted that these sharks had been fished outside of the prohibited boundaries of the park. But how could this be verified? It couldn’t. The annual operating budget of the Cabo Pulmo Marine Park is roughly $20,000, according to Mr. Godinez Reyes, making comprehensive enforcement all the more challenging.
To learn more about the 2016 Cabo Pulmo Hope Spot Expedition, click here.
I’m a student hoping to go into the field of marine science and have recently been researching the critically endangered vaquita with the IUCN 2021 report that there were 10-13 individuals left it took my attention. I feel often bogged down by information such as this and want to know how best to help I’m currently circulating a presentation on basic information about the vaquitas peril in my school and am drafting letters to politicians around the California coast in Mexico. I still feel that I’m not doing enough how can I reach enough people how can we turn the tide on this and similar stories?
I am a butcher that works in a place where we sell all types of meat. But when customers approach our seafood counter they ask about where our fish comes from and when I start to describe the fish I always start with the farm raised fish first. 75% or so of our customers do not want farm raised fish, sometimes they say yuck or gross or farm raised fish is bad for you which ovcourse is not the case. I looked on the FDA website and according to the FDA, the vitamins and minerals are ever so slightly less than that of a wild caught fish and some of the comments I hear from my customers are incorrect. But ovcourse when I correct them they look at me like I’m a salesman and sometimes just walk away. Overall I think if people were aware of the difference between wild caught and farm raised fish then maybe wild caught sales would decrease. Maybe it would make a difference, maybe not. Just thought I’d share that with whoever you are reading this.