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https://theconversation.com/jailing-indonesians-for-shark-finning-in-australian-waters-doesnt-solve-the-real-driver-poverty-195909>
"Last week, four Indonesian fishermen were convicted for taking shark fins and
poaching fish in Australian waters. The four men were spotted off remote
Niiwalarra/Sir Graham Moore island in the Kimberley region of Western
Australia, more than 150 nautical miles inside Australia’s exclusive economic
zone.
But is fining them up to A$6,000 – a huge sum for these men – likely to stop
sharks being killed? Hardly. The reality is, they have no capacity to pay the
sum. Instead, they’ll likely serve a month or so in jail and return to
Indonesia. There, they’ll face the same problem driving them into Australian
waters – poverty.
Desperate Indonesian fishers are setting out across the Arafura Sea in record
numbers, with 46 fishing boats detected since June this year. Many gamble with
their lives – and some have lost. Authorities have found illegal fishing camps
on Niiwalarra Island, alongside shark carcasses with their fins taken.
Shark fins are sought mainly in Chinese markets for use in a high-status soup
and in traditional medicine. Demand has seen wholesale slaughter of these
predators, essential to the proper functioning of ocean ecosystems. We’re
hardly blameless – Australia exports tonnes of shark fin each year. We have to
find a better way of protecting sharks in our waters – some of the last healthy
populations on the planet."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
