Mack the Knife?

[rognvald]

"However, I don't have the same sensitivity or hysterics about it as you." Colemj

Mark,
With Gord's update, the story has changed considerably. However, based upon the original post, my sentiments remain the same. I think, however, you and I might have a different version of Merriam Webster . . . what you define as "sensitivity or hysterics," I call ethics. Please reread the first line of my original post. Good luck and good sailing. P.S. I hope you saved some of your tuna(Bluefin/Yellowfin/Little Bonita?) for a sashimi appetizer. Don't forget the white radish, ginger, wasabi and some soy sauce. A bottle of chilled White Burgundy(Le Montrachet 2010) is a perfect compliment. Good luck and good fishing or as it is said in some quarters . . . tight lines!

[Cheechako]

I used to hunt. Gave it up years ago as my ego no longer needed to end the life of a magnificent creature from 150 yards with a high power rifle and a scope in order to feel like a "man".
I think the most sportsmanlike agenda would be to have "advocates" for the hunted animals. These advocates would be issued "hunter permits". They would hunt the hunters to level the playing field. It would be much more fair and sportsmanlike if you ask me!
I mean... how sportsman like is a football game with only one team who has a ball?

[captain58sailin]

I would (without being a marine biologist) say that the fight was what killed the pregnant shark, being overstressed. So the interaction with the fishers is what caused the death. Do not know if it was their intent to release the shark after some photos or not, but if they had not hooked it, it might still be alive. Not rendering a moral judgment, I have unintentionally caused the death of a few sharks over the years, so I am not in any position to point fingers. At one point, I looked at fishing for sharks commercially, if all the parts were used including the plasma, I could have made $800 for a 200 lb shark.

[rognvald]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I used to hunt. Gave it up years ago as my ego no longer needed to end the life of a magnificent creature from 150 yards with a high power rifle and a scope in order to feel like a "man".
I think the most sportsmanlike agenda would be to have "advocates" for the hunted animals. These advocates would be issued "hunter permits". They would hunt the hunters to level the playing field. It would be much more fair and sportsmanlike if you ask me!
I mean... how sportsman like is a football game with only one team who has a ball?

Cheech,
If you are a vegetarian, I will respect the above statement. However, let me present a few ideas that you and others might find useful. Man is by nature a carnivore. It is why we still have the remnants of pointed incisors. Early man needed a diverse diet to survive in a difficult environment. Meat, whether scavenged or killed, was an important part of that diet. But, man was also a prey species of larger carnivores like sabre toothed cats, lions, bears, etc. We were also on their menu. We are still on their menu today. But, now that we have become "civilized," we allow specialists to procure and kill for us at our local butcher shop or supermarket. It allows us to have a untruthful conscience against killing since we see the animal neatly butchered and packaged. It is the ultimate charade. Admittedly, hunting is not for everyone in modern society but it is till the most important element of those who live in Nature. It is, to me, the ultimate act where Man has a direct connection to his primordial past. The cliche of easily killing an animal at 150 yards with say a 30-06 rifle is shear nonsense. The hunters among us know how difficult this is to get the right angle on the animal, to gauge the wind, the nuances of light and dark and the inherent instability of the shot. You can only know this if you are a hunter. To shoot a mallard, dove, or quail at 60 mph, a wild boar on the charge or to defend yourself against an angry and determined bear requires skill, a calm head and resolve. Or, to take an animal while perched 15 feet above the ground in a tree stand with bow and arrow is a highly honed skill. So, if you say that you no longer enjoy the challenge of a wild hunt where you pit your skills against a highly tuned creature whose life is driven by the will to survive-- I can understand your position. But, there are some among us who have and need a connection with Nature on its most elemental level; who respect their prey, who practice conservation and a sporting ethic while making a connection with our ancestral past that allows us to once against connect with what it means to be human. And, it was the story I initially presented that I felt grossly violated this ethic in the purported handling of the Hammerhead Shark. I hope this makes sense. Good luck and good sailing. R