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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: combjelly who wrote (371277)	2/18/2008 6:02:37 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1573824

What is this Scheisse?! They cut off their fins and then throw them back in the water to die??? Hell! Sometimes I think the human race needs to be excommunicated. What kind of insanity is this? Shark species face extinction, says research By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent in Boston Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 18/02/2008 Nine new species of sharks, including the scalloped hammerhead, are to be added to the official list of animals at global risk of extinction, scientists have revealed. Experts are particularly concerned at the rapid decline of the scalloped hammerhead, which the IUCN will list as "endangered" - its second highest of five levels of concern. Sharks' fins are highly prized as a delicacy in Chinese cooking, and prices can reach as much as £150 per kg. An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year, with many fishermen simply slicing off their fins before throwing them back into the water where they usually drown or bleed to death. Dr Julia Baum, a member of the IUCN's Shark Specialist Group, revealed the plans to add the species to the endangered list at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Boston. advertisementDr Baum, a marine ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, said: "Our oceans are being emptied of sharks and the scale of the problem is global. "If we carry on without doing anything about it we are looking at a high risk that some of these could be extinct within our lifetime. "On the high seas and in international waters there are no regulations or catch limits. It's a free for all. "Over the last decade conservation concerns have been mounting. Now we need to convert that into action to introduce effective measures that are strictly enforced." There are 126 sharks listed as at risk of extinction - defined by the IUCN as critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable. Research by Dr Baum and colleagues found numbers of tiger, bull, dusky, smooth and scalloped hammerhead shark have collapsed by between 95 and 99 per cent off the US east coast since 1970. Last year the Shark Specialist Group of the IUCN met to assess the risks to oceanic shark species - those that are highly mobile and live primarily in the open ocean, away from coastal areas. Apart from classifying the scalloped hammerhead as endangered, the smooth hammerhead, the shortfin mako, the bigeye thresher and the common thresher will be listed as vulnerable. Tiger, dusky and bull sharks will either be classed as vulnerable or "near threatened" - a category defined as close to the threshold for risk of extinction. The silky shark will also be classed as near threatened. Scalloped hammerheads congregate in large numbers around seamounts and islands, making them easy targets for fishermen. It takes 16 years for them to reach maturity, meaning that populations take a long time to recover. There are no catch limits in international waters and existing bans on "finning" are ineffective. Spanish fishing fleets in particular have been targeting sharks. Millions of sharks are also taken by recreational fishermen and as bycatch by fleets fishing for tuna and swordfish. In December the United Nations passed a resolution calling for catch limits and true shark-finning bans, and the European Union is currently drawing up a plan of action. Sonja Fordham, of the Shark Alliance conservation alliance, said: "People think these wide-ranging, fast sharks are resilient to fishing; however, this is not the case. "Concerned citizens can really help by making their fisheries ministers aware that they support conservation measures such as catch limits." telegraph.co.uk

To: combjelly who wrote (371277)	2/18/2008 6:06:39 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573824

"The point that I was making is that prosperity can not be assumed for Cuba whether it uses a socialistic or capitalistic econ. model.....the resources aren't there." I understood that. And, I agree. I just wanted to throw that out there because, sooner or later, one of them will point out how well Cuba was doing before Castro. Good point......and you're right.......they are bound to make an issue of that at some point, assuming they knew about Cuba before Castro. Tourism is on the upswing in Cuba ever since the Soviets cut them loose in the 1980s. But, so is prostitution. Yes....and not just prostitution.......they are using children for labor in the factories of Mexico. Its what pisses me off about Castro.......he's not that stupid. He could improve Cuba's economy without loosening the reigns too much and allow a more active tourist life.