Saturday, July 09, 2011

Congo-Brazzaville - Wow!

Great stuff!
 
Brazzaville - The government of Congo-Brazzaville has banned shark fishing off its Atlantic coast to prevent depletion of stocks caused by massive demand in Asia for shark fins, the government announced Sunday. Cristina must be delighted! Bloody excellent! Correct me if I'm wrong - but this would be the first African nation to do this? Which of course begs the question, if the small island nations and emerging market economies can do this, what about the rich, "enlightened" nations that are so long on telling others what to do and so short on doing the right thing themselves? Europe? Australia and New Zealand? And what about South Africa with its legacy of excellent terrestrial wildlife stewardship and its thriving Shark tourism business?

6 comments:

OfficetoOcean said...

"...if the small island nations and emerging market economies can do this, what about the rich, "enlightened" nations that are so long on telling others what to do and so short on doing the right thing themselves?"

Ah yes, the old "do as we say not as we do" mantra so beloved of the economic western powerhouse nations.

Well done to the "little guys" for leading the way though and it seems this year is shaping up to show some light at the end of the tunnel perhaps, let's hope so!

See you on Wednesday!!

DaShark said...

Indeed, c'ya on Wednesday!

As u might have gathered, yer coming right smack in the middle of some EPIC developments in Shark conservation here - timing is everything huh!

OfficetoOcean said...

It might just be a case of right time right place yet again, I do hope so!

I was so happy to see your blog about the new shark protection laws, I can't believe I'm finally getting to tell the story I think is one of the greatest marine conservation successes of all time! Just actually meeting the sharks there once was a dream for almost fifteen years let alone what I get to do starting next week. Excited doesn't come close to describing how I feel!

Cristina said...

The series of good news about Countries banning shark fishing and finning is a pleasure to read. Specifically two of the Countries I have most at heart: Congo and Bahamas.
It's time to tackle some of the other "enlighten" places and I am thinking of a third one in particular I have some roots with.
Thank you for the always wonderful information in your blogs.

Alexandre said...

I don't want to reduce your happiness but this law doesn't mean anything if there is no law enforcement and there is no good law enforcement in Congo Brazzaville. I'm working in an NGO there. We worked on sea turtle until now and we plan to develop a shark program. But Shark are still overfished in Congo.

DaShark said...

Merci Alexandre

Not surprised, actually - but of course the law in itself is good news as otherwise, there would be nothing to enforce.

Best of luck with your efforts there!