“Sharkwater” - A must see movie!
At the evening of our first day at the Curacao Dive Festival there was a screening of a documentary movie, that just hit me. I haven't heard about it before unfortunately. It's not only visually stunning - known at best from the BBC planet series - but also tells a fascinating story.
Actually this movie was planned as a documentary on sharks with the objectiv to take away the fear about sharks from the public by showing that these animals are not the always thought bloody-minded man eater. Rob Stewart - the director of this movie - tries to show in a very emotional style and with great images how graceful these animals are, which happen to be the oldiest species on earth and which even outlast the dinosaurs. But due to some unintended and surprising events during the production of the movie, the whole idea was somehow shifted and so the movie turned out to be a documentary about shark finning and the whole industrie (some call it mafia) around it. He documents how this could possibly lead to the extermination of sharks, one of the most important player in the oceanic food chain, and explains the possible consequenses to our life on earth. The documentation shows not only the terrible side of shark hunting, but also documents the corruption related to shark finning industry within the goverments in some countries. The 90 minutes are worth every single minute in terms of visual appearance and in documentation.
Some facts:
- Shark finning refers to the removal and retention of shark fins and the discard at sea of the carcass. The shark is most often still alive when it is tossed back into the water. Unable to swim, the shark slowly sinks toward the bottom where it is eaten alive by other fish.
- Shark finning takes place at sea so the fishers have only the fins to transport. Shark meat is considered low value and therefore not worth the cost of transporting the bulky shark bodies to market.
- Any shark is taken—regardless of age, size, or species.
- Longlines, used in shark finning operations, are the most significant cause of losses in shark populations worldwide.
- Shark finning is widespread, and largely unmanaged and unmonitored.
- Shark finning has increased over the past decade due to the increasing demand for shark fins (for shark fin soup and traditional cures), improved fishing technology, and improved market economics.
- Shark specialists estimate that 100 million sharks are killed for their fins, annually.
- One pound of dried shark fin can retail for $300 or more. It's a multi-billion dollar industry.
More information can be found at:
- http://www.sharkwater.com/education.html
- http://www.seashepherd.org/
- http://www.wildaid.org/
- http://www.sharktrust.org/
- http://www.sharkproject.org/
- http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish
Reference
