Shark Fishing

Dried Shark Fins for sale near Kota Kinabalu Fish Market (Photo Credits – Ken Kassem/WWF Malaysia)

Someone emailed me asking for more information about the anti-shark finning proposal I recently did. Here’s an abridged version:

In recent years there have been increasingly vociferous comments about the exploitation of sharks—especially shark finning—in Sabah by tourists and visitors to the state. Complaints and adverse comments have been made in the media and in many internet fora especially by foreign tourists after witnessing shark landings and sales in fish markets in Sabah. There are valid concerns that these negative views and reports will reflect poorly on Sabah as an ecotourism destination, and in the long term, if not addressed adequately, will impact negatively on the local tourism industry.

The tourism industry in Sabah is an important foreign exchange earner, contributing to economic growth, attracting investments and providing employment. Indeed tourism is one of the three sectors which the State Government of Sabah focuses on in its current development agenda. Sabah received some 2.5 million visitors for the year 2010. It has been estimated that receipts from tourists in Sabah in 2010 is about RM4.426 billion, making tourism a major revenue earner . One of the cornerstones of Sabah’s tourism development strategy is the promotion of the state as a premier nature-based tourist attraction. Indeed the main subsector that brings in many affluent foreign tourists to Sabah is ecotourism (which can be defined as sustainable, and environmentally and socially responsible nature-based tourism). A subsector of this ecotourism industry in Sabah is marine ecotourism, and especially SCUBA diving tourism. Last year it is estimated that 42,693 divers visited Sabah generating receipts of about RM192.5 million.

The increasingly widespread concern about sharks among the general public is reflective and in response to the mounting evidence of widespread, substantial, and ongoing declines in the abundance of shark populations worldwide, coincident with marked rises in global shark catches in the last half-century. The current regime with regards to the management, protection and conservation of sharks in Malaysia (including in the State of Sabah) is quite lacking as is acknowledged by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia in its current National Plan of Action for Sharks. There is therefore a real need to improve this situation if the government wants to actively addressed the concerns of fisheries, especially sharks, conservation, and in the broader context, the negative impacts of bad publicity and international opprobrium as a result of continued inaction.

More than 25% of all species of pelagic sharks, 35% of epipelagic species, and over half of large, oceanic-pelagic sharks are classified as threatened in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. According to TRAFFIC (a global NGO maintaining a wildlife trade monitoring network), and the Pew Environment Group, in a 2011 report, The Future of Sharks: A Review of Action and Inaction, 30 per cent of shark species now threatened or near threatened with extinction. This analysis suggests that shark fisheries are likely to be generally well managed in only a few of the Top 20 shark producing countries and, although NPOAs (National Plan of Action) are in place in these countries/territories, there is no evidence to suggest that the NPOAs are responsible for the effective management of shark fisheries.

The shark fisheries have historically provided a relatively small contribution to the overall fisheries production in Malaysia. The average value of the shark fishery in relation to the overall fishery was however still less than 1%. For the year 2010, the total landings of sharks was 6,788 tonnes which represents just about 0.5% of the total fish landings of the country. Of these total landings of sharks, the state of Sabah contributed the highest (20.5%) which amounted to 1,388 tonnes. Sabah landings of sharks and rays have increased rapidly since the late 1980s. Sharks are taken mainly by trawl and gillnet fisheries, with small quantities taken in longline, purse seine and other fisheries. The landings make up less than 2-3% of total marine landings.

Shark being landed at Pulau Mabul, Semporna (Photo Credits – Eric Madeja/WWF Malaysia)

SEAFDEC (Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center) Sharks and Rays of Malaysia and Brunei Darulsalam a study of SEAFDEC from 199 to 2004 recorded 56 species of sharks. Several species were rarely found and restricted only in certain areas and “most probably are endangered and threatened, and require serious protective measure to prevent them from becoming severely threatened or extinct”. These include the Whale shark, Rhincodon typus and Borneo river shark, Glypis sp., which is found in Sabah. Results of the other studies conducted in Sabah rivers have shown that in addition to the Borneo river shark, Bullsharks (Carcharhinus leucas); three batoids: giant freshwater stingray (Himantura chaophraya) and two sawfishes: Pristis microdon and Pristis zijsron.

Malaysia drew up its NPOA Sharks and was published in 2006. In it the Department of Fisheries, Malaysia acknowledged that in the country insofar as the conservation and management of sharks was concerned locally, there is a “lack of enforcement to conserve vulnerable or threatened sharks and rays stocks; lack of effective protection to possible critical habitats in some coastal areas; and no proper areas for sustainable eco-tourism activities.” Malaysian fisheries are managed under the Fisheries Act 1985. However, there is no specific regulation pertaining to the management of sharks and rays except for whale shark, which is protected under the Fisheries (Control of Endangered Species of Fish) Regulations 1999. There are also no regulations pertaining to freshwater shark and ray management, which is under the jurisdiction of the states. The International Trade In Endangered Species Act 2008 only lists only 4 shark species under Schedule III of the Act: Basking Shark (Cetorhinus maximus), Great White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias), Sawfishes (Pristidae) and Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus).

No data are presently available on the economics of the shark fisheries. The low economic emphasis that is currently placed on sharks, due probably to their occurrence as a fishery bycatch is not reflective of the shark’s true economic potential in other marine activities such as recreational fishing and ecotourism. The presence of sharks at established diving sites is a strong lure for most divers, which may then support other economic activities such as accomodation, boat chartering, tourist guides, rental of diving equipment, etc.

Shark fishing near Pulau Mabul, Semporna (Photo Credits – Karim Farah/Dubai)

Super Bowl XLVI

Well, Super Bowl XLVI is tomorrow (Sunday in Indianapolia) and concidentally Monday is a holiday here. Just Perfect: 8am, and I will be sitting with my coffee and konowmein watching the Patriots going against the NY Giants on ASTRO Sports HD 2.

Last night CNN showed the running game statistics of quarterback Eli Manning of the New York Giants side by side with Tom Brady’s of the New England Patriots; in all respects Brady came out on top. I have a feeling though that the difference will not be how the Giants can stack against the passing of Tom Brady. There is a saying in football that a good running game will improve your running offense. My take is that Belichick will call for more than usual runs played in regular season by the Pats. When the Giants played agains the SF 49ers, we caught more than a glimpse of how the Giants defence can be attacked this way.

[UPDATE}
Oh no, the Patriots lost. Tom Brady did not have to do that high-risk long throw.

I would say Super Bowl XLVI will be a low scoring game. The Pats will win by a touchdown and a field goal though. Go Pats!

Book: Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food

Last week I completed a paper that will be submitted to the Government that strongly recommends against shark finning in Sabah. Some of you who are conservation-minded will know that there is a large ground swell of sentiment around the world to ban shark hunting because of the really steep decline in the number of sharks globally. For us in Sabah, shark fisheries is only about 2% of the total fisheries production and a UMS economist have calculated that the economic loss if we are to ban shark fishing is only about RM10 million. Compared this to the tourism reciepts (2010) of RM192 million accrued from more than 42,000 SCUBA divers who visited Sabah.

Consider this: More than 25% of all species of pelagic sharks, 35% of epipelagic species, and over half of large, oceanic-pelagic sharks are classified as threatened in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. According to TRAFFIC (a global NGO maintaining a wildlife trade monitoring network), and the Pew Environment Group, in a 2011 report, The Future of Sharks: A Review of Action and Inaction, 30 per cent of shark species now threatened or near threatened with extinction.

In Four Fish, Paul Greenberg did not talk about sharks but he chose 4 commercially significant fish—salmon, sea bass, cod and tuna—and relates where each stands at this critical moment in time. He talks about how we can manage these fisheries stocks in order that we may continue to enjoy these seafood while protecting these fish populations.

Great book.

Book: The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn

The The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn is a 2010 book by Nathaniel Philbrick.

This book is one in a long series of books (and movies, TV, songs, poems, and scholarly studies) about one of the most famous losers in history, General George Armstrong Custer (Actually he was just a mere Lieutenant Colonel at the time of battle; he was addressed as a General because of his temporary rank earned during the American Civil war.) This book characterised Custer as a deeply-flawed individual yet he had qualities that endeared him to both his subordinates and superiors. Custer, according to the author (he was not the first one to write such), was impetuous, imprudent, vainglorious, disobedient and ambitious as well as having an eye for beautiful squaws, yet was brave, charismatic and commanded strong loyalty among his troops.

On the day of the battle (25th June, 1876), Custer committed 2 cardinal sins of a battlefield commander: He rushed into battle without knowing the size of the opposing side and he splitted his regiment without knowing how the indian forces were arrayed against him. In the end, about 3,000 of mostly Lakota and Cheyenne indians led by Chief Sitting Bull annihilated 5 companies of 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The Battle of the Little Bighorn led to the death of General Custer together with 267 men and scouts of the regiment.

One thing irritating about this book is the author’s procivility of writing about actual conversations between 2 or more people who ultimately died in Custer’s Last Stand. I mean, short of having the ability to contact the spirits of people long dead, how did the author know? If you are a first time reader of the history of Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by reading this book, it will make you very distrustful of the facts as written by the author.

Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life

A “scientific” paper titled “Theory of the Origin, Evolution, and Nature of Life” by Erik D. Andrulis (Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine).

Will some reputable scientist explain to me what is written here please? Otherwise I will think that April Fool Day has come early this year. Then again, it may be a magnum opus waiting to be discovered. Consider:

The ultimate state of gyromnemesis is the stably adapted particle or gyronexus in the gyrobase. A particle thus adapts through learning and memory by completing one full cycle—a revolution—around the singularity. Taken together, gyrognosis defines IEM integration and assessment whereas gyromnemesis defines IEM storage and recovery. Finally, although a diquantal IEM (X••) undergoes gyrognosis as the gyrobase of a primary majorgyre, it undergoes gyromnemesis as the gyrapex of an alternagyre. Thus, gyre learning and memory are relative to the gyradaptive singularity.

Book: Empire of the Summer Moon

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne.

Great book, if even just for the level of research that went into this book. Worthy of being a Pulitzer Prize finalist that it is. This book, I guess, can be differently titled as “The Killing Plains: Gore and mayhem in the old American West. Here are 3 excerpts:

The woman was filthy, covered with dirt and grease from handling so much bloody buffalo meat. But to Ross’s astonishment he noticed that she had blue eyes. And he saw that under the grime her short-cropped hair was lighter in color than Indian black. She was white. Not quite believing what they had found, they took her back to what was left of her village, which the soldiers were busily looting. They were also scalping the dead Indians, men and women alike. By now scalping was the common practice on both sides. Since two men claimed the scalp of Peta Nocona, they decided to split it into two parts.

…

The tribe cut a bloody swath of violence across the coastal lowlands, looting, killing, and burning on their way to Matagorda Bay, and sweeping the entire country of horse stock as they went. They took captives, too, including a Mrs. Nancy Crosby, the granddaughter of Daniel Boone, and her baby. Since she could not quiet the child, they killed it, spearing it in front of her.

….

The whites, strengthened by the arrival of more than seventy hunters who were now afraid to be alone on the plains, eventually decided it was safe to go about their business. After burying their four dead comrades (one died accidentally) and the scalped Newfoundland dog that had died with the drovers, the whites beheaded the dead Indians and stuck their heads on stakes outside the walls. They placed the thirteen headless bodies on buffalo hides and dragged them away along with the dead horses (the Indians had killed them all), which had begun to reek.

NFL Postseason: Patriots vs Broncos

Patriots 45, Broncos 10.

Well, they will have to give Tebowmania a rest till next season. And the Belichick passing machine rumbles on. Coming into this game the talk was how the Patriots 31-st ranked defence is going to cope in postseason. By the end of the first half, it was clear that the Broncos will not be the team which will reveal the frailities—and weakness there are collectively among the big defenders of the Pats—of the New Englanders. By then Tom Brady have 5 TDs, a record for a postseason. Brady used All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski as a sabre—no, make that a Rambo knife—thrusting through fatally the heart (read middle) of the Denver Broncos defence.

The Pats’ defence was so good that at one time early in the third quarter, several Patriots swarmed Tebow like a tight bunch of angry hornets; we never knew who officially got the sack that time, such was the Broncos QB overwhelmed.

If the Pats meets with the Ravens, they are going to the Super Bowl.

[Update]
New York Times is implying that Tim Tebow will get found next season (“so much pixie dust”).