Shark Safe Rally for Shark Conservation

On May 23 and 24, 2009, Shark Safe will be hosting a public Shark Conservation Rally to effect change in the upcoming “Are You Man Enough Shark Challenge” (AYMESC) shark tournament. Our goal is to convince the AYMESC officials to change the current tournament format from kill to 100% catch-and-release.

The Shark Safe Rally will involve many participants from all over Florida and the US. Our message to the local community is that live sharks are much more valuable than dead sharks. We also want to educate the public on plight of sharks and why they are so vital in our delicate ecosystem.  Shark Safe and our many supporters believe that an event called “Shark Fest” should in fact celebrate sharks and that no event should slaughter sharks for the sole purpose of competition.

Sharks play important structuring roles as the top predators in the ocean. In today’s world there is no room for such wasteful and needless practices such as this shark kill tournament. Sharks are slow to mature, reproduce and have low reproductive output.  The AYMESC is specifically only killing the largest sharks, which are the sexually mature and pregnant animals sustaining the population. So, even killing a few can have a large effect on the population. Unnecessarily killing sharks also will also translate into fewer sharks for our future generations to enjoy, catch and release. A simple format change will still enable fisherman to enjoy the sport of it, while also contributing to the wellness of the planet.

For those who wish to participate in the Shark Safe Rally for Shark Conservation, it will be held in Fort Myers Beach, May 23 and 24, 2009 meet at 11:00 AM at Lynn Hall Park.  The local authorities are aware of our rally and are not against it.

Some suggested sign slogans:
Celebrate Sharks! Do Not Slaughter them!
Protecting Sharks means protecting our Planet
We need Oceans, Oceans need sharks
Are you man enough to save our planet? Stop killing sharks!

100 % Catch & Release

The AYMESC is scheduled to take place June 6 and 7, 2009, as part of a large scale street fair and boat show called “Shark Fest 2009” in Fort Myers Beach, FL. For information on the shark tournament, go to this link: http://www.areyoumanenoughsharkchallenge.com/

Feel free to contact the sponsors to enlighten them on the real shark story.

Please RSVP if you are planning to attend the Rally on May 23-24 2009

email: sharksafe@comcast.net

There is Hope!

Lawrence Groth and Christopher Chin chat with Peter Knights from WildAid

There is no light at the end of the tunnel yet.
But there is definitely hope.

When we were planning this event, we never expected any of these establishments to throw down their soup pots and surrender without a fight.
But we did get one after all.

We had a fantastic weekend.

On Saturday, Lawrence Groth and Bob Mc Nerney from Shark Safe and Christopher Chin from COARE joined forces. As a team we went into Chinatown together, we verified several restaurants that serve shark fin soup, and identified a number of markets that sell fins. We provided information in English and Chinese to each of these proprietors, and engaged in some friendly discussion. In all but a few cases, we were treated with respect, and number of restaurateurs seemed quite interested and said they would consider removing shark fin soup from their menus.

We also ran into two restaurant owners who were very much opposed to shark fin soup (one of which was previously and mistakenly noted as offering the soup). We will be working with these two restaurants to help set an example and encourage others to follow the same path.

Sitting down with a map and our notes from the day, we decided upon the most effective approach and prioritized locations to picket the next day.


Sunday's healthy turnout was welcomed by a warm sunny morning at Portsmouth Square.
After everyone signed in, we gave a briefing and then led several groups up to start with the markets. We were cheered on by passersby, cars honked in support, and even a few of the bus drivers shouted kudos. Our next wave placed participants in carefully selected locations near popular restaurants serving the soup. At the end of the day, we had one restaurant agree to remove it from their menu, and another offered to stop serving it if we would help with the costs of reprinting the menus. We'll be following up with both, and will report back.

Among the participants were one couple Kevin and Liz who flew up from LA to be there and also four young men from LA who drove all night to be there and join the protest. The rest were mostly all from the Bay Area and all were enthusiastic. It was a great group of shark people.
Among the visitors to the Shark Safe HQ set up at Portsmouth Square was Peter Knight the executive director of Wildaid. Peter was feeling under the weather and could not stay out in the cold but he did offer some great suggestions and support for future events.

While we were making plans for this weekend's events, it came to our attention that other groups were working on similar programs in the area. WildAid and COARE teamed up to create the Shark-friendly Communities project a few years ago. But has not been active in any efforts recently. In fact a little over a year ago Wildaid had mailed a letter very similar to the letter that we hand delivered on Saturday to every restaurant in SF that served shark fin soup asking the owners of these restaurants to open a dialog with Wildaid regarding the shark finning issue. They sadly received absolutely NO response.

COARE has planned to start a similar campaign to the successful "Dolphin Safe" campaign of the 1980's. We also modeled our "Shark Safe"organization after the same. With two organizations with the same ideas and the same goals, great things can happen!
We found that we're all pointed in the same direction, and we're combining our forces - our resources, energy, enthusiasm, and our supporters, to have a greater impact in San Francisco and around the world.

Stay tuned for new developments.

To all participants planning to join the Shark Fin Soup Protest in SF Chinatown

Recently there have been shark finning demonstrations in other cities. Some of these events involved participants marching down the street chanting slogans. This may be an effective tactic in those cities, but our event in San Francisco’s Chinatown will use a different approach or tactic. We will not march down the street chanting.

We hope for positive results wherever anti-shark-finning movements are held, and ours will be non-confrontational. San Francisco’s Chinatown is a unique and complex community. Marching and shouting will have little or no effect in this community. It would be perceived as nothing more than a mere nuisance and ignored.

The San Francisco protest will involve strategic placement of small groups of protesters at specifically targeted locations. We will have as many groups as possible spread out to these various locations to maximize the possibility of accomplishing our goal for this event.
Our goal is to educate the public about the health hazards involved and the devastating effects that Shark Fin Soup consumption is having on the environment. We will attempt to convince people to not order or make shark fin soup. We will also try to persuade restaurants to stop offering shark fin soup to their patrons.
We will do this by having our small groups stand in front of the targeted locations holding signs with that message. We will be handing out informational leaflets (written in English and Chinese) detailing the issues connected to shark fin soup consumption. We will use courtesy and respect to convey our message.
We understand that many shark advocates are very passionate about their beliefs. We want to invite the Chinatown community to understand and share our passion and receive our message clearly.

Code of Conduct for Participants in the
SF Chinatown Shark Fin Soup Protest Demonstration

• All participants will conduct themselves in a peaceful and respectful manner.
• Participants shall not make any racial or derogatory remarks towards any person.
• Participants shall not enter any establishment that is being boycotted or picketed.
• Participants shall not block any persons from entering or exiting any building or structure.
• Participants shall not purposely disrupt vehicle or pedestrian traffic.
• NO violence of any kind will be tolerated.

Participants will be required to check in at Portsmouth Square before joining the demonstration.

See you there!

San Francisco Chinatown Protest

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The Shark Safe Project is starting 2009 “The Year of the Shark” with a protest demonstration in San Francisco’s Chinatown on January 25th and 26th (Chinese New Year).
Please join us as we will be picketing several establishments including restaurants that serve shark fin soup and shark fin markets.

This is intended to be a peaceful demonstration yet an aggressive protest to convince these establishments to cease offering all shark products.

We will be carrying signs and handing out leaflets (written in English and Chinese). Our immediate goal is to educate the local population of the dangers of consuming shark fins and the devastation that shark fining is causing to our oceans. Hopefully convincing many local citizens to stop consuming shark fin soup and other shark products and to stop patronizing establishments that offer such products. Our long-term goal will be to have city ordinances passed to prohibit the import and distribution of all shark products in the city of San Francisco. Making San Francisco the first “Shark Safe” city in the USA.

Those of you that cannot attend the demonstration can still participate by calling the restaurants listed above. You may call each restaurant and voice your concerns about their serving shark fin soup and or make a reservation for a small party for dinner at a certain time. Then call back 10 minutes before your reservation time and cancel your reservation and explain that you are doing so because that establishment chooses to serve shark fin soup and that you will be patronizing a different establishment that does not serve shark fin soup.

When calling these restaurants please be firm but polite and simply voice your opinions. Please do not make any threats or speak harshly to the employee that answers the phone, as they more than likely are not the actual proprietor who makes up the menu or purchases the supplies for the restaurant. Being rash or vulgar will not do our cause any good and in fact would be detrimental to our cause.

Shark Safe Project’s intention is to seriously decrease if not eliminate the demand for shark fins globally. It may take one person at a time, one store at a time, one street at a time, one city at a time but we must start somewhere! We are choosing San Francisco as it is home of the largest Chinatown outside of Asia.

PLEASE JOIN US!