Anybody watch "Sharkhunter" on OLN? Guys should be shot...

[nickw]

Couldnt watch it for more than a couple minutes. I was hoping it was catch/release, but once the 'big fish', as they called it, got to the boat, out came the gaff and thats one less shark.
The only thing they were concerned about was how much the shark weighed for the competition they were in. Taking a life because it was a 'rush' and it made good TV (apparently), it really sickened me.
These guys were overweight, out of shape, drinking beer and obnoxious, maybe if they could freedive and see the natural beauty of these animals things would be different.

I dont see spearfishing in the same light, the primary reason is that most spearos have devoted a large portion of their lifes to the sport and utilize the fish for food purposes. They dont sit in a boat with a cooler of beer with absolutely no understanding/appreciation for the life around them.

Just my 2 cents, thanks for listening-

 

[nickw]

I think I jumped the gun a bit, they definately should not be 'shot'....rather educated and not made out to be 'cool' by these programs on TV. Maybe a firm slap on the hand..

 

[aesop]

Not that I agree with what they're doing, but I've seen that show and I didn't see them with beer. It's a comp, that would be like a being in a spearfishing comp with a gallon of vodka. I believe the comp is in the Pacific, off the Oregon coast. Washington State and California have protection laws, prohibiting shark fishing. Oregon has yet to make those laws, hopefully it will be soon.

That comp is pretty nasty though. They fish for weight, always wanting a shark with a full belly so it'll weigh more. I've only seen that show once, the biggest shark was 730lbs, pretty sad really.

If you want, you can fight for conservation laws, it's the best thing you can do for those sharks.

Cheers

 

[sickbugs]

what is done with the shark after it is weighed? if its eaten, then hey.. different method, same end result (food on the table) but i know that a lot of americans dont eat shark meat.. hopefully they are not just catching and weighing large sharks then dumping the meat? :naughty

 

[MKDVR]

Was this a recent show or a re-run of an old school one? Like the one where Rodney Fox got even by powerheading every shark in site.:martial

 

[aesop]

This is a recent show. A website called fishsniffer.com had a discussion about this. One guy said the fish don't go to waste, some of it is eaten at events for dinner and the rest go's to the fish market. Some of the fish go to research and there isn't less than 4 biologists onsite at all times.

I looked at the OLN website and it only list air times, not what they do with the fish. Who knows what they really do with the fish, we just have to hope they make it a good cause.

I'll post more info here if I find any.

Cheers

 

[ajwaverider]

I watched the show a couple of times and liked it .The fish are not wasted and are used to feed homeless and less fortunate people or atleast that's what was shown on the show.Of course I can watch almost any show with u\w footage and not be turned off.One thing I know is things are seen differently by people that are on the outside of certain sports or activities.
I'm sure there is someone that will say shame when I get out of the water with 4 or 5 fish over the minimal size limit and under my bag limit because they don't understand what it took to get those few fish .It also helps not to broadcast your success publicly.

 

[sickbugs]

if the sharks are not being wasted, and if they are being studied by marine biologists also, then couldnt this research actually help improve shark understanding in the future?

ive hooked into some sharks, nothing really big yet, but i cant say that i find them a very sporting fish on rod and reel, nothing like a wahoo... but i guess all species will have their predators, do they release the smaller sharks they catch? i know that some people would catch and keep say, a 600 lb'er, but if they got a 750 lb'er, they would dump the 600.. disgraceful in my opinion, but it happens.. its one of the things that have kept me from fishing tournaments.

 

[land shark]

ok I'll play devils advocate briefly. but first! I was taught to take only what I can use and do so humanely as possible.

first off," energy is niether created or destroyed it only changes form... true??"
We as humans some how try to avoid this buy burying our dead in vaults thus disrupting the food chain heheee.
second show me a managed species that is in danger. Most were in danger before we managed. management takes speicies away from danger.Thus managed.
third while we are here on good O'l mother earth we have to consume to exist let's call it a common unit BTU's or calories.
The real problem with feeding folks is in the pairing up of a cheap food source with a lot of hungry people. The two seldom exisit together.
With management of wild stocks we are really only utilizing what we have not yet tamed I.e. agriculture thus we reap a benefit from what is concidered marginal resources. this is a nice wind fall because it provides with little alteration of enviorments.

we all wish the world would just provide us with plenty of food without doing anything. but we are to many. we impact enviorment just by existing. We can improve wild stocks by reverseing the pollution. and our health as well.

The fact that mother earth is dynamic in her ways is reflected by her stocks. the world does not sustain large numbers of species for ever. we all must cycle.

so point! weather or not they eat the sharks or not is irrellivent. If they dump it somthing else will! And perhaps that if they have have such a low reguard for the speicies they do this to, reflects the large numbers that may exist there. As far as a waste the btus will go back into producing somthing else like crab for instance. And if they become rare where they do this then the value will go up and it will stop.

we all Modify our enviorments otherwise there would be no sidewalks or buildings. but who laments the passing of ants

ok im off my soapbox

jim

 

[nickw]

I guess I have a soft spot in my hart for sharks, including their bad rap.

Regarding the last poster playing devils advocate, I see your point, but I dont agree. Ill quote the movie matrix, actually I dont know the exact quote but it goes something like this, "humans are the only specie on earth that doesnt live harmoniously with nature". When I think about this it makes sense, all other animals fit into the whole picture and are productive to the environment, why the hell arent we? Thats why I dont see this as recycling energy, in nature I think that argument is valid, but humans throw this out of whack in my mind. From a physics point of view you are correct, energy in=energy out.

I see the actions of killing because its cool to slay a big bad shark or because it makes good TV as the primary reasons this is on cable. Unlike the 99% of spearos who put in some serious time/energy to kill something they are going to eat and be self suffiecient (therefore reducing consumer demand for commercial/farm raised fish). They shark hunters get themselfs off the hook by giving away the fish, IMO, but the primary reason is for the adrenaline rush.

 

[land shark]

humans are the only specie on earth that doesnt live harmoniously with nature". When I think about this it makes sense, all other animals fit into the whole picture and are productive to the environment, why the hell arent we? Thats why I dont see this as recycling energy, in nature I think that argument is valid, but humans throw this out of whack in my mind.

What makes you think we dont belong to nature?
We are productive to nature,unfortunatly the species that thrive because of us will also in all probability be our end.

would you prefer we allow ourselves to be eaten to make things balance out?

A better view might be keeping all the peices of the big puzzel in case we need that piece to stay alive. As far as outta whack, ma nature has given us plenty of examples of outta wack she can really put things. Like meteors for instance.

 

[SanderP]

Aren't humans unecessary for nature? Only thing they (we) do, is destruction.

We are productive to nature

What are we producing then, that's important for nature?

 

[khel]

Aren't humans unecessary for nature? Only thing they (we) do, is destruction.What are we producing then, that's important for nature?

You can say that about any predator And humans are the most efficient one (though sometimes - too efficient).

 

[nickw]

Humans dont live harmoniously with nature as all other animals do. Name another animal that pollutes its drinking water with deadly chemicals, radioactive waste and crude oil.

 

[aesop]

True, all though there are parasites that "pollute" water in the jungle, by attacking the brain of the animal that drinks it.

Not sure if that counts or not, it's not technically polluting it.

 

[nickw]

Those brain eating bacteria are natural and they serve a purpose in nature.

Chemicals/radioactive waste are man made and thus should have never been introduced into nature.

 

[Lockedin]

A quick 2 cents on my part. I've done a lot of freelancing for OLN, and generally speaking, they have a pretty good track record (from a conservancy point of view). Example: An entire offroad racing series had to be moved to protect a rare turtle (tortoise?) during its mating season.

But on the other side of the coin - Television is only there to make money for the people who advertise on, and produce the shows you watch --- even if that means downplaying - or playing up certain parts to keep you watching. Meaning in this case: you either watched the worst / bloodiest, or the nicest / cleanest part of that particular event (and there were probably hours of meetings to decide what was seen).

Remember: TV is entertainment, not necessarily truth. Or there's the old computer geek axiom: Garbage in, garbage out (what do we put in our heads?).

Sorry, that's been a rant of mine for a while. It's sad to work in an industry whose product I neither consume, nor recommend others consume.

Rick

 

[nickw]

A quick 2 cents on my part. I've done a lot of freelancing for OLN, and generally speaking, they have a pretty good track record (from a conservancy point of view). Example: An entire offroad racing series had to be moved to protect a rare turtle (tortoise?) during its mating season.

But on the other side of the coin - Television is only there to make money for the people who advertise on, and produce the shows you watch --- even if that means downplaying - or playing up certain parts to keep you watching. Meaning in this case: you either watched the worst / bloodiest, or the nicest / cleanest part of that particular event (and there were probably hours of meetings to decide what was seen).

Remember: TV is entertainment, not necessarily truth. Or there's the old computer geek axiom: Garbage in, garbage out (what do we put in our heads?).

Sorry, that's been a rant of mine for a while. It's sad to work in an industry whose product I neither consume, nor recommend others consume.

Rick

Good point.
What kind of freelance did you do with them?

The tortoise incident is interesting, but did they move the race because of there genuine interest in the animal, or because of protection laws governing them?

I do like OLN, great shows-

 

[land shark]

Those brain eating bacteria are natural and they serve a purpose in nature.

Chemicals/radioactive waste are man made and thus should have never been introduced into nature.

so are the things that eat off our waste.

might I point out also that the earth is quite chemical its full of things and chemical LIKE Uranium and oil?

 

[nickw]

so are the things that eat off our waste.

might I point out also that the earth is quite chemical its full of things and chemical LIKE Uranium and oil?

Uranium is not in high concentrations on earth, plus 'enriched' uranium is what is used by the nuclear devices, which is not natural.

And for oil, its underground, not floating in oceans-