Monday, June 28, 2010

Sea Shepherd: activists or terrorists?

Here's an interesting article from SeafoodSource.com, including an opinion from the Dalai Lama. What do you think of self-proclaimed environmentalists who attack the business of whalers or fishermen going after bluefin tuna?

I don't think they help environmental causes, and I don't approve of their tactics in attacking whalers or fishermen or anyone else. But calling them terrorists is downright silly, they're not like people who set off bombs that blow up innocent civilians.

6 comments:

Fish Whisperer said...

At least they are doing something. Too many look the other way. If nothing is done then one day there will be no whales or tuna, then what?

Unknown said...

I think Sea Shepherd should be compared to park rangers in Africa. There, they will do anything to protect an endangered species - including shooting poachers on sight. Comparitively, I don't think throwing rancid butter at whalers is really all that bad.

I applaud Sea Shepherd for standing up and fighting for what they believe in. When the governments & regulatory bodies of this world fail to act, it leaves organizations like Sea Shepherd no other choice.

Anonymous said...

Kimberly said it very well!

i clicked on 'fish whisperer' and it showed a picture of a man holding up a fish that he presumably just killed. For you to refer to yourself as "fish whisperer" is disgusting, repugnant!

Southern Fried Scientist said...

I always love the "at least their doing something" response, as if SSCS were the only game in town. Sure, they're not terrorists, but their not conservationists either. Doing something is not the same as getting something done, and SSCS hasn't done much more than self-promote and flip-boats in it's 32 years. At some point you have to ask, why don't their methods get results?

If they're so effective, why are more whales dying in the southern ocean when SSCS is down there: http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=5894

And how can you affect real change if your modus opperandi is to villify the people you're trying to convince to change: http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=4424

Is Watson Fat or Big Boned? said...

I have to agree that SSCS is not doing anything substantial but making noise and looking like fools in the process.

The comment "at least they are doing something" is about as useless a comment as they come and gets to the dark heart of the matter.

There's an entire movement of wanna be shark savers, tuna savers and whale savers who subscribe to doing nothing except petitions, or cheap and dirty campaigns against the local grocery selling shark meat, you name it.

They call this conservation. They call these victories.

We need strong programs with real metrics, not ego laden ninnies with reality television shows, or ex prom queens who want to save a few sharks.

From the 1970's grand ambitions of conservation to this?

Say good-by to the wild life kiddos, at least it will look good in the re-runs on Animal Planet 4D.

ReefHugger said...

I think they're activists. Generally speaking, people are only terrorists when they're not on your side.

As long as they don't hurt any other humans in the execution of their tactics, I say go for it.