Thursday, June 15, 2017

Cownose Ray Hunting - Moratorium!


Back to the exploding Cownose Rays, and I cite,
The cruelty at play, at times, gives the dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan, a run for its money.
Read this.
It summarizes brilliantly the whole fiasco in the Chesapeake Bay starting with Myers' fatally flawed paper all the way to the decision to ban those horrible killing contests.
And I cite again,
The story that unfolded across the Chesapeake Bay is one that should give reason to pause: people were quick to read into unrelated research; to scapegoat; to find blame where they wanted. It’s a lesson about the dangers of oversimplifying science. But there is nothing simple about coastal ecosystems, where a multitude of species and processes interact—many of which have yet to be discovered.
Which begs the question, have the lessons been learned?
And more specifically, have those Shark NGOs, educators and awareness raisers removed all references to the paper from their propaganda educational materials - and will they forthwith finally inform themselves and refrain from all the unhelpful hyperbole?

Yeah I know I know.
To be continued!

3 comments:

MaryF said...

Thank you very much for posting this, and you are so right: there is so much harmful misinformation about the rays out there. The state of Virginia is largely responsible for it, and the government should launch a public information campaign to correct it.

We are continuing our campaign to protect the rays: http://savetheraysmd.org/ More information about the issue is at: http://fishfeel.org/stop-savage-killing-contests/

DaShark said...

Hi Mary

Happy if it helps in any way.
It's a crying shame to witness how well meaning, but misguided shark conservation has contributed to the unwarranted persecution of another elasmobranch.

MaryF said...

Thank you, DaShark! We had to file new legislation this year because the Maryland department of Natural Resources missed the deadline for coming up with a plan for the rays, so the killing contests could legally start up again. Today the bill was unanimously passed with a 47-0 vote! Now it goes to the governor to be signed into law: http://savetheraysmd.org/2019/03/28/maryland-general-assembly-extends-cownose-ray-killing-contests-moratorium/ or, if you prefer a shorter link: https://bit.ly/2Wx9AvN