It's the circle of life!
Finally a bit of common sense in our overwhelming shark apocalypse. Finally something we can all of us agree upon for as you well know, “man-eating” Great White sharks, Tiger sharks and Bull sharks too have taken over the entire U.S. Eastern Seaboard, including but not limited to Cape Cod and Novia Scotia.
You also know they have absolutely destroyed the tranquil peace once enjoyed in my bucolic North County, San Diego and you should know that a rapacious beast nibbled the foot off of an British diver in Australia just before the weekend, enjoying it as an appetizer all gamey and tasting of warm ale.
These horrors have paralyzed mankind and should continue to paralyze any male even thinking about taking up surfing for male surfers, it is well known, are sharks’ favorite meal.
But finally a bit of prudence, rationality, wisdom and from The United States government itself. Sharks should become our favorite meal in return and let us turn directly to the U.S. government agency NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) for the absolute latest on how to combat food insecurity in America and abroad.
As you scan the seafood counter in search of new foods, keep a look out for U.S.-caught shark. That’s right—seafood consumers concerned about the environmental impact of eating shark can rest assured. Finding sustainable products is as simple as asking where it was harvested.
“U.S. shark fishermen work under some of the most robust environmental standards in the world,” said Randy Blankinship, a fisheries management specialist who leads the group in charge of safeguarding shark populations in the Atlantic. “Their decades of stewardship should be recognized at the market.”
It’s a common misconception that all sharks are endangered. It’s true that overfishing, habitat loss, and other practices have greatly depleted some shark populations overseas. But that’s not the case in the United States. In fact, none of the 43 Atlantic shark species managed by NOAA Fisheries are listed as endangered in U.S. waters under the Endangered Species Act. Oceanic whitetip and scalloped hammerhead—which fishermen are either prohibited from harvesting or allowed to keep only in limited situations—are listed as threatened.
Several commercially in-demand species have actually experienced population growth in recent decades as a result of the United States’ science-based management. The number of blacktip sharks in the Gulf of Mexico was on the decline into the 1990s, for example. Their tasty meat made them the target of many shark fishermen.
Sustainable and tasty, much like Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch, and for the first time in months I feel some sort of… balance. Sharks* eat surfers.
Surfers* eat sharks.
It’s the circle of life.
*Everyone pictured either sharks or surfers.
I’ve been sayin for years. Kill the Whites, and eat the left over seals. win win
Could we come to the point of the article.
In some countries sharks are fished sustainably and are recognised as increasing in abundance. The article is of the US shark stocks and the same generally holds for Australia. Commercially caught and processed shark is a fine product.
Shark attack rates, that is legs in the water not the warped maths of the Shark Attack File namely shark attacks (in Australia carefully ignoring our big years of 2016, 2017 and 2018) over an entire population including country towns in 2018, are showing increases to most people and it is not always whites or bulls.
Many of the sustainably caught shark species attain large sizes and have been implicated with shark attacks in the past. It is likely that more shark attacks will occur.
Summary. There will be two polarised sides to the shark story and there should be a strong middle balanced ground. Any debate on shark attack in say US or Australia should be at least on the premise that shark numbers are actually increasing not declining.
What should come into the new debate is the sustainability of the alternative ‘technologies’. Are the really safe to sharks and humans, do Animal Ethics Approvals exist for them and are they just new examples of a Cargo Cult.
I guess those comments are an extension of the point of the article, but to twist a quote of the Gladiators “all those of us about to die (from shark attack) all hail the article”.
Wow!, what an incredibly ignorant article.
Sharks ARE endangered and are one of the most poached animals in the world. Currently you can buy three times the amount of shark fins in Japan alone that can be legally fished worldwide. And Japan is not even the biggest market.
They’ve been at the top of the food chain for millions of years and are absolutely crucial to the environment. They’ve been at the top so long that some only have one or two offspring every seven to eight years. Others can take 25 years to mature.
It’s true sharks have been migrating north and at this point it’s unclear to scientist as to why but the two main suspicion are because the water’s warning and because they’re over hunted/poached on both coasts of Latin America.
Do a little more research before you post such an immigrant article.
He does tend to be a little immigrant.
What?
Sharks need Jayden the fearless shark hunter
I doubt Wayne Murphy posted spam
You are right, I wouldn’t post spam. Maybe it was considered tinned shark variety.
Bummer that worshiped great whites, like scared cows in Hindu regions, don’t taste like roast beef or steak. Not that some people haven’t tried cooking these big beasts, as I recall one time in South Oz many years ago when great white was on the barbecue menu. It was more than a week since I’d witnessed my good mate Phil “Sharky” Horley get attacked by a huge hungry white pointer at Outside Castles. Fortunately the massive fish went into a feeding frenzy with his surfboard, which allowed Sharky enough time to swim for his life like Mark Spitz to shore. He only received three hundred stitches or so, and some gashes, on one of his legs from when the mighty beast first launched its surprise attack underneath him. It was enough of an injury to keep him in hospital and away from Cactus for a few months. The medical staff in Ceduna even made him read an illustrated book on shark attacks while they stitched him up in hospital, so as to get any residual shock inside him straight out of his system. The attack happened during the the August school holidays. There’d been plenty of visitors around the place, but the day after the attack the camping area was deserted. Only us permanent shack crew remained. Nobody went surfing for a week. A fishing boat from Port Lincoln was soon on the scene dropping baited drum lines just beyond the waves at outside Castles, trying to catch the shark. One day, a week later, the weather cleared. I looked across the bay over to Caves and could see about ten of the crew sitting in the lineup. The first surf since the attack. Who could blame them, perfect waves going unridden on a blue-sky day. No matter about big whitey, when the surf was this good, it is too hard to resist. Then I noticed two surfers paddling out to Castles in front of where I was sitting. Newcomers. They must have just arrived, seen all the crew out at Caves, and decided to hit Castles instead because there was no-one out there. I suddenly got a bad feeling. Then I noticed all the lads at Caves coming in on the same wave, all of them lying prone on their surfboards. They’d obviously seen a fin, or something, and got spooked. I started yelling loudly trying to warn the two newcomers in front of me, but it was too late. They were too far out and couldn’t hear my frantic calls. Then I saw the fishing boat out the back slowly leaning over to one side. I watched in awe as the boat winched up a massive shark.They’d caught the bloody thing! It got hooked on the very last bait along the drum line. The two surfers paddling out were next in line. That afternoon we had a big party at sheltered Point Sinclair to celebrate the catch. The fishermen cut their prize out. They opened the jaws up as wide as they could, to show us the size of the creature’s bite. Rodger the bar manager from the Penong pub had a big enough beer belly, but the large triangular serrated teeth never touched his sides as they slid the jaws over him. Then they matched up the jaws with the bite marks on Sharky’s surfboard, which had washed up in several pieces a few days later on the Long Beach. This proved it was the same shark. They later gave Sharky the smallest tooth as a present, which he took to wearing around his neck. There was a lot of tequila and beer drunk that afternoon. Meanwhile, fifteen foot of headless shark was still in the water, lashed up horizontal half submerged alongside the fishing boat. Blood and guts were still oozing out into the sea from where its angry face used to be. When all the lamb chops and sausages ran out Rick the Punk suddenly reckoned shark steak would be a good idea for an evening feed. He reckoned the shark wanted to eat one of us, so now we should eat the shark. Brilliant Rick! Pure drunken madness. So there was Rick leading the charge with a few other well-fueled participants, armed with hacksaws and knives standing and swaying on top of a half submerged dead shark, enthusiastically ripping into its remains to get a few big slabs of fish for the barbecue. For most of us there it was a fucken hilarious scene. But as drunk and stoned as I was, something about it just didn’t seem right. I was secretly worried to be honest, half-expecting another big shark to come from underneath and start chomping into our gang of merry butchers. Then Smiley and Fitzy arrived and caused a bit of a commotion. They had a big king brown snake, dangling dead from a tent pole they were carrying. And they were calling out my name? Curious, I ventured over to see what the fuss was about. They’d been to my shack on the way down and knocked on the door to see if I was coming to the party. I was already at the party. They thought I might have been asleep, so they opened the door to come in and wake me up. They saw the snake climbing up onto my bed and into my sleeping bag. So they killed it. I would have stumbled home from the party that night and got into my sleeping bag and certain death. Fitzy and Smiley had saved my life. I thanked them profusely, and my guardian angels. Snakes and sharks aren’t nice creatures. Yes, they live there and have a role to play in the overall scheme of things. But give me a close encounter with friendly dolphin or a harmless sleepy lizard any day.
On a serious note, middle aged men should not eat much shark since it is high in uric acid and can cause gout. That’s why the Scandinavian people ferment shark, it breaks down the uric acid then they can eat it often. I used to eat lots of shark and squid in my late teens when I moved to the city. It was tasty and cheap.
I’m willing to take my chances to support the industry
Not all of the British are afraid of soap. British backpackers…100%.
Word to wise…don’t shower if you want to keep your attacks down.
Eat the rich:
https://www.theguardian.com…
Yep . I much prefer the early 20th Century image of the Capitalist with the Big Gut and Top hat , then our contemporary version , the Billionaire , all slim , shiny ( slippery like eels ) and surfing ….. ?
The author looks to be about 14, with the knowledge and reason to match.
Comestible Shark do do do do do do …..
Haha. Good old Nokia Sciatica. Land of the sometimes angry.
His hockey team must’ve lost. It’s the only explanation.
Nah he’d have to be one of those French hybrids yeah?
Ohhhh good point!
What Orcanization sponsored this article?
While it’s easy to appreciate the eating sharks as a response to their tastes for us, there is another option. Whenever a shark threatens you, point him/her towards a better option. Boogie boarders are softer and much more easily digested than surfboards. SUP’ers aren’t as soggy as water-immersed surfers. And don’t forget about your back-paddling mates.
Also sweet tender VALs. The veal of the sea!
Please add this T-Shirt
To the BeachGrit online store
I’ll buy at least one!
Veal Away from Land