The opponents are trying to water down the bill which will allow more sharks to be fished for fins.
California's Shark Fin Ban - AB 376 (Fong/Huffman) - HEARING DATE : 07/11/11
Please CALL members of the Appropriations Committee and urge them to vote YES on AB 376.
Calling is much more effective!
Senator Christine Kehoe (Chair): (916) 651-4039 senator.kehoe@sen.ca.gov
Senator Mimi Walters (Vice Chair): (916) 651-4033 senator.walters@sen.ca.gov
Senator Elaine Alquist: (916) 651-4013 senator.alquist@sen.ca.gov
Senator Bill Emmerson: (916) 651-4037 senator.emmerson@sen.ca.gov
Senator Ted W. Lieu: (916) 651-4028 senator.lieu@sen.ca.gov
Senator Fran Pavley: (916) 651-4023 senator.pavley@sen.ca.gov
Senator Curren Price: (916) 651-4026 senator.price@sen.ca.gov
Senator Sharon Runner: (916) 651-4017 senator.runner@sen.ca.gov
Senator Darrell Steinberg: (916) 651-4006 senator.steinberg@sen.ca.gov
Thank you!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
San Francisco Shark Fin Consumption Contributes to Demise of World Shark Population
http://seastewards.org/san-francisco-shark-fin-consumption-contributes-to-the-decrease-of-world-sharks/
Further updates on our website seastewards.org
Further updates on our website seastewards.org
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Victories for Sharks in 2010 & Work to do
This year shark victories resounded around the world, including good news here in the USA. Last week the House approved the Shark Conservation Act as amended and passed by the Senate and championed by Senator Kerry and Representative Madeline Bordallo. This bill will close loopholes allowing landing of sharks with fins unattached, and strengthens importation and enforcement of shark fin transportation.
Thanks to the efforts of Senator Clayton Hee, Hawaii is the first state in the nation to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. This team, including WildAid has met with Sea Stewards, Iemanya and other shark conservation groups and we have serious momentum to increase protections in San Francisco and the State of California.
The Raj Ampat region of Indonesia declared a Shark Sanctuary for a vast region of the island waters, and The Maldives Islands recently declared a Shark Sanctuary, joining Palau. There have been similar anti finning law successes in W. Samoa and Senator Hee is also urging the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to ban finning and the sale of fins.
These successes are resonating with efforts in Central America and Roatan and our own efforts here in San Francisco to establish protected areas for sharks.
On the down side, shark groups in the EU are facing strong opposition to protect several threatened species of sharks and work to list species under CITES has failed. The EU has held fast to the fin ratios that allow for poor reporting and overfishing of sharks for fins. With their own finning loopholes and a heavy shark fishery, there is serious work to be done in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic.
The IUCN has reported that fully one third of the worlds shark species are threatened with extinction.
Finning is a serious threat to sharks world wide, but there is a growing effort to protect sharks in the fisheries and from shark finning. By providing Sanctuary and limiting consumption of fin products, we can make a difference for apex predators like sharks, and the health of the ocean.
Join Sea Stewards and support our shark conservation efforts here at home, and abroad.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Sea Stewards Healthy Oceans Initiative.
Thank you for your support.
David McGuire, MPH
Director SeaStewards.org
Thanks to the efforts of Senator Clayton Hee, Hawaii is the first state in the nation to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. This team, including WildAid has met with Sea Stewards, Iemanya and other shark conservation groups and we have serious momentum to increase protections in San Francisco and the State of California.
The Raj Ampat region of Indonesia declared a Shark Sanctuary for a vast region of the island waters, and The Maldives Islands recently declared a Shark Sanctuary, joining Palau. There have been similar anti finning law successes in W. Samoa and Senator Hee is also urging the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to ban finning and the sale of fins.
These successes are resonating with efforts in Central America and Roatan and our own efforts here in San Francisco to establish protected areas for sharks.
On the down side, shark groups in the EU are facing strong opposition to protect several threatened species of sharks and work to list species under CITES has failed. The EU has held fast to the fin ratios that allow for poor reporting and overfishing of sharks for fins. With their own finning loopholes and a heavy shark fishery, there is serious work to be done in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic.
The IUCN has reported that fully one third of the worlds shark species are threatened with extinction.
Finning is a serious threat to sharks world wide, but there is a growing effort to protect sharks in the fisheries and from shark finning. By providing Sanctuary and limiting consumption of fin products, we can make a difference for apex predators like sharks, and the health of the ocean.
Join Sea Stewards and support our shark conservation efforts here at home, and abroad.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Sea Stewards Healthy Oceans Initiative.
Thank you for your support.
David McGuire, MPH
Director SeaStewards.org
Victories for Sharks in 2010 & Work to do
This year shark victories resounded around the world, including good news here in the USA. Last week the House approved the Shark Conservation Act as amended and passed by the Senate and championed by Senator Kerry and Representative Madeline Bordallo. This bill will close loopholes allowing landing of sharks with fins unattached, and strengthens importation and enforcement of shark fin transportation.
Thanks to the efforts of Senator Clayton Hee, Hawaii is the first state in the nation to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. This team, including WildAid has met with Sea Stewards, Iemanya and other shark conservation groups and we have serious momentum to increase protections in San Francisco and the State of California.
The Raj Ampat region of Indonesia declared a Shark Sanctuary for a vast region of the island waters, and The Maldives Islands recently declared a Shark Sanctuary, joining Palau. There have been similar anti finning law successes in W. Samoa and Senator Hee is also urging the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to ban finning and the sale of fins.
These successes are resonating with efforts in Central America and Roatan and our own efforts here in San Francisco to establish protected areas for sharks.
On the down side, shark groups in the EU are facing strong opposition to protect several threatened species of sharks and work to list species under CITES has failed. The EU has held fast to the fin ratios that allow for poor reporting and overfishing of sharks for fins. With their own finning loopholes and a heavy shark fishery, there is serious work to be done in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic.
The IUCN has reported that fully one third of the worlds shark species are threatened with extinction.
Finning is a serious threat to sharks world wide, but there is a growing effort to protect sharks in the fisheries and from shark finning. By providing Sanctuary and limiting consumption of fin products, we can make a difference for apex predators like sharks, and the health of the ocean.
Join Sea Stewards and support our shark conservation efforts here at home, and abroad.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Sea Stewards Healthy Oceans Initiative.
Thank you for your support.
David McGuire, MPH
Director SeaStewards.org
Thanks to the efforts of Senator Clayton Hee, Hawaii is the first state in the nation to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. This team, including WildAid has met with Sea Stewards, Iemanya and other shark conservation groups and we have serious momentum to increase protections in San Francisco and the State of California.
The Raj Ampat region of Indonesia declared a Shark Sanctuary for a vast region of the island waters, and The Maldives Islands recently declared a Shark Sanctuary, joining Palau. There have been similar anti finning law successes in W. Samoa and Senator Hee is also urging the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to ban finning and the sale of fins.
These successes are resonating with efforts in Central America and Roatan and our own efforts here in San Francisco to establish protected areas for sharks.
On the down side, shark groups in the EU are facing strong opposition to protect several threatened species of sharks and work to list species under CITES has failed. The EU has held fast to the fin ratios that allow for poor reporting and overfishing of sharks for fins. With their own finning loopholes and a heavy shark fishery, there is serious work to be done in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic.
The IUCN has reported that fully one third of the worlds shark species are threatened with extinction.
Finning is a serious threat to sharks world wide, but there is a growing effort to protect sharks in the fisheries and from shark finning. By providing Sanctuary and limiting consumption of fin products, we can make a difference for apex predators like sharks, and the health of the ocean.
Join Sea Stewards and support our shark conservation efforts here at home, and abroad.
Tax deductible donations can be made to Sea Stewards Healthy Oceans Initiative.
Thank you for your support.
David McGuire, MPH
Director SeaStewards.org
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Give like you love the ocean
My friend J Nicholls says, "Live like you love the ocean."
But even for surfers, watermen & waterwomen and ocean conservationists, no matter how cautiously we live there is a footprint in the sea. We consume energy, we use boats, we eat fish. The challenge is how we can mitigate our impacts and offset so that we leave a net positive. Like carbon offsets we need a process that will provide an aqua offset. This can be by joining an ocean campaign, working on local clean water efforts like those of Surfrider and advocating ocean sustainability from fishing to consumption.
Sea Stewards has used sharks as symbols of sustainability. Because sharks are the regulators of ecosystems, the presence of sharks is a good indicator that the system is relatively healthy. That is why sharks are such an important focus of our organization. Alternatively, the absence of sharks, and consuming unsustainable products like shark fin are symbols of ocean sickness and unsustainability.
Looking back at the year I can reflect on a number of victories and positive aqua-offsets, but have experienced quite a few challenges and frustrations. Our volunteer fishermen, lead by Master Shark fisherman Steve Shirley, have tagged 70 sevengill sharks and helped us collect tissue for genetics analysis and taken measurements for growth. This team has grown into a movement and with the additional sharks we would like to study, we need a bigger boat!
We initiated our Shark Sanctuary initiative, protecting the health of the San Fracisco Bay, Sharks and People. The Shark Sanctuary is a multi tiered approach to Bay Sustainability, focusing on research, education and shark conservation.
On the negative side, we are experiencing an increase in party boats targeting sharks, with a number of articles in the press featuring the excitement of catching sharks. There are mixed blessings. We did receive a tag return from a fisherman on one of the boats, and he told me he gave it away( a 130 pound female). He gets a hat and tickets to the Cal Academy or the Monterey Bay Aquarium, our research partners. It is also opening a dialogue on how we can support local fishermen and promote catch and release of sharks in the Bay.
On the advocacy front, our local shark fin ban has trudged along for want of leadership willing to take a risk and make a stand for sustainability. Hundreds of letters have reached the Supervisors and Mayor, and a few are testing the waters but what is needed is a strong Chinese American champion. We have thousands of petition signatures and several local Asian Chefs interested in pressing this forward. With the success of the Hawaii bill banning the sale and trade of shark fins, we have met with Senator Clayton Hee and a team of other California non profits to propose similar legislation in the State. We have taken our Assemblyman, Jared Huffman out shark tagging to discuss his role in championing the bill. Jared is an avid fisherman and is also Chair of the water and wildlife committee and is a passionate fisherman and fish advocate.
Like San Francisco, we are fishing for the cultural leader to help diffuse the cultural argument. We will continue to move forward on both fronts and are working with youth to educate the elders like we did in Tiburon with this year's youth Shark Saver Andrei Dolezal.
Our Shark Stewards education program is moving forward with talks and film events at libraries, museums and at the Marine Science Institute Shark Days. Our Sharktoberfest events were a huge success with Farallones trips, a Sharklife at the California Academy of Sciences, a Shark Kidfest at the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary (with a Bay ecosystem and shark painting with Jim Toomey) and a party on the Tiburon Angel Island Ferry. Despite the rain and the Giants, we had a great time, raised a little money and a lot of awareness.
Protecting sharks can be a hard sell. People are attracted to sharks, but they dont necessarily want to protect them. I'm amazed by the number of people making money off sharks, from clothing to adrenaline tours to a Hockey Team are but not giving anything back.
This year we became a project of The Ocean Foundation, affording us non profit status. Now we can write grants and receive tax deductible donations to our shark program via The Ocean Foundation.
This will help with our fundraising, as well as channeling some of our film projects that are difficult to fund by regular broadcast means. Our new film The Shark Hunter of San Francisco is in production and we have a grant pending. It is an exciting fishing story with a conservation message.
We have also partnered with The Ocean Registry. People who want to give the gift of the ocean can sign up for a 100 acres and leave a message on a map, and receive a gift certificate showing their patch. Ideally, patrons will check back and become more involved with their piece of the Bay or ocean. 50% of the proceeds for the San Francisco Bay will go to the Sea Stewards Healthy Oceans Initiative. Also partnering in the Registry is the National Marine Sanctuary Program. These Sanctuaries, like the Gulf of the Farallones and the Cordell Bank are our partners and an important part of the Sea Stewards outreach programs.
"We are all responsible for the future of the ocean and the ocean’s future is our future; now with this ocean registry you can adopt your own piece. It’s a great way to connect to the ocean and pass a “piece of it” on to others, and get all of us focused on what our responsibility is. It’s a great way for people to feel personally invested in the future of our ocean and its resources."
Dan Basta, Director of National Marine Sanctuary Program, NOAA
Whether we support our Sanctuaries directly or indirectly through the Registry, eat sustainable seafood like from our partner FISH of Sausalito, or support shark conservation, we need to leave more aqua credits than we use. frankly, we have to offset the damage done by the rest fo the planet. We can act individually, or collectively, but we need to act now.
The ocean is our mother and is our future. Lets live like we love the ocean, and
Give like we love the ocean.
Overfishing the San Francisco Bay: Are Sharks next?
It is no secret that more fishermen have been targeting sharks on the San Francisco Bay. Several articles and blogs have reported and Party boat's from Pier 39 and Fishermen's Wharf have shifted focus from the vanishing stocks to the last big, (and poorly managed) fish in the Bay. Sharks.
A recent article in the East Bay Express starts with sharks and goes on to analyze the problem at large, and is pretty well done. However, the author focuses on the overfishing of local stocks and the impacts on our local fleet, but doesn't discuss the history of overfishing sharks, the lack of population data for most species or the absence of a management plan.
What do we think will happen to the sharks as more pier fishermen and party boats like the one mentioned in the article shift their focus to sharks? The article discusses impacts on commercial or commercial party boats- but does not analyze the impacts from the recreational fishery.
Sharks are more vulnerable to overfishing than bony fish. The large sharks like sevengill sharks are poorly managed with no size limit and a year round season.
As a biologist tagging and studying these local sharks, it is possible that the increased pressure will once again fish out our sevengill shark and soupfin sharks before we understand them, or even know their population size.
Sharks are slow growing, late to reproduce (nearly a decade for sevengills), have relatively very few young and can only pup every other year. We know that San Francisco Bay is an important shark nursery.
Sharks are essential for a balanced Bay ecosystem, one as the article implies is increasingly out of whack. Moreover, large sharks are loaded with mercury and there are advisories against eating large sharks.
The proper management of sharks must be considered before the last domino falls.
Unless we follow Fish's Kenny Belov's lead and limit our consumption, and fish sustainably both recreationally and commercially we will lose our entire fish resources including sharks. As local party boat captain Anfinson says "Some people are starting to fish for sharks, but who knows how long that fishery will last."
Will the next article we read be titled San Francisco Bay's Sharks Fished out?
It is the mission of Sea Stewards and other organizations that include fishermen to avoid that. David McGuire, Seastewards.org
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks: Deadliest Catch - Hooking a Shark in San Francisco Bay
Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks: Deadliest Catch - Hooking a Shark in San Francisco Bay
To the Editor of Urban Daddy
re: Swimming With Sharks: Deadliest Catch -
Congratulations. I read your story on the local shark fisherman. Your article of shark fishing falls into the same puerile and sensationalist vein as the National Enquirer. As someone working from a perspective of sustainable fisheries and the proper management of the San Francisco Bay writing like this helps reverse years of study and shark conservation. Despite the fact that the writer overlooks that sharks are high in mercury, they are also one of the most important animals in the bay ecosystem.
Sharks cannot sustain a focused fishery. They have late reproductive age, have few young and cannot have many pups in their lifetime.
Having tagged and handled hundreds of these sharks I cant tell you how wrong the assessment is. Although they can bite, these sharks are not dangerous or maneaters.
Millions have swam, surfed, and kayaked in the bay and there has been one recorded shark bite.
I suggest your writers do their homework before running these articles, or should I say ads.
sincerely
To the Editor of Urban Daddy
re: Swimming With Sharks: Deadliest Catch -
Congratulations. I read your story on the local shark fisherman. Your article of shark fishing falls into the same puerile and sensationalist vein as the National Enquirer. As someone working from a perspective of sustainable fisheries and the proper management of the San Francisco Bay writing like this helps reverse years of study and shark conservation. Despite the fact that the writer overlooks that sharks are high in mercury, they are also one of the most important animals in the bay ecosystem.
Sharks cannot sustain a focused fishery. They have late reproductive age, have few young and cannot have many pups in their lifetime.
Having tagged and handled hundreds of these sharks I cant tell you how wrong the assessment is. Although they can bite, these sharks are not dangerous or maneaters.
Millions have swam, surfed, and kayaked in the bay and there has been one recorded shark bite.
I suggest your writers do their homework before running these articles, or should I say ads.
sincerely
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