Comments on: Despite Ban, UAE remains market hub for shark fins and their soup

By: Isabelle Fischer

Isabelle Fischer — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 21:10:10 +0000

I am just watching a report on the spanish channel RTVE International about Spanish people living in Dubai, and while interviewing a spanish guy who has a spanish restaurant they were filming in a food market and showed a pile of dead sharks for sale in DUBAI!!!

It is grotesque…

By: Houda

Houda — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:02:47 +0000

@ Arwa – I read your article and was extremely disapointed in the misleading facts you wrote.
To start with, the dissections took place in Dubai and not Abu Dhabi.
I have been to a couple of Rima’s educational talks on various marine conservation issues including threat to sharks in the region. Inspired by her work and the her level of scientific knowledge, I have since volunteered with her on several of her field trips.
Therefore I believe I can allow myself, after gaining an insight on her way of working to comment on your article.
I am very pleased that you are taking the initiative to contact her (albight a bit too late)and I look forward to reading a factual account of what’s going on in the region with regards to shark conservation – as far as I know Rima is the only scientist investigating the trade in sharks in the region.

By: Runescape gold

Runescape gold — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 07:20:20 +0000

Poor shark, we will vigorously advocated not eating shark fin soup!

By: Arwa Abuarwa

Arwa Abuarwa — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 12:42:58 +0000

Thanks David, I have actually got in touch with Jonathan Ali Khan about doing a piece with various shark experts and also offered to speak to Rima about her work etc- so keep an eye out for it!

By: David

David — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 07:08:49 +0000

@Arwa I think you should contact Rima Jabado, find out about her project and actually visit the fish markets with her to see the good work she is doing and explain why the dissections are beneficial; you will then be able to write an objective and researched article. As you admit this is a misunderstanding but such a misunderstanding, especially one by a journalist, can reflect badly upon an individual, in this case Rima. You have an opportunity here to get the full story and make things right, I hope you act upon that.

By: Murtaza

Murtaza — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:42:25 +0000

About dissection… I believe that in the majority of cases animal bodies used for dissections are gathered in unethical ways, and so I am in general against most dissections. I’m not sure, though, that dissection is an *a priori* vice. Furthermore, I don’t see how humans could come to fully understand biology and animal anatomy if nobody ever dissected any animals. So I think that at least occasional dissections are essential to the full appreciation of biology and ecology. Dissections seem, however, to be contrary to the spirit of environmental awareness and conservation. But are they really? I’m still developing my opinion on this, and I think it’d be great if Green Prophet gave Rima Jabado an opportunity to express her thoughts on the role of and appropriateness or inappropriateness of dissections in fostering environmental and conservation awareness.

By: Arwa Aburawa

Arwa Aburawa — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:21:36 +0000

Hey Jonathon,
Thanks for your comment.
I just want to say that I was accurate- Rima did supervise the dissection and I only expressed my personal shock at that. Yes, I did not have the entire picture and my shock was due to my assumption (not repeated in the article I might add) that the sharks had been caught solely for dissection. They weren’t and and admitted as much in my above comment.

I still don’t understand why you’re being so defensive- it was a genuine misunderstanding not some attempt to smear Rima. I would really like to make that clear. I am sure Rima is doing great work to protect sharks.

Finally, I still don’t see how dissecting sharks can inspire recruits to marine biology but hey, that’s just my opinion.

I got the stats from this Al Jazeera article: http://blogs.aljazeera.net/africa/2010/03/16/once-feared-predator-now-endangered

Arwa

By: Jonathan Ali Khan

Jonathan Ali Khan — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:52:20 +0000

@Arwa, I think the main point here is that accuracy needs to be upheld as part of any form of written expression when dealing with something as critical as shark conservation. Of course, this is your blog and how you present your views is entirely up to you. Unfortunately the comments about Rima lacked information to convey the full picture and ended up casting very misleading dispersions about her work. I was shocked to see what appeared to be a dig. Rima is doing really important work at a scientific level and we have to accept that at times science is not always following a methodology that appeases the conservationists. Dissection has it’s uses and should not be confused with vivisection! I am not saying that the ends justify the means, but I am saying that research is obviously crucial to resolving the issues facing us. Conservation without the science becomes an exercise in futility as we are still learning about sharks and their natural life cycles. It is fundamental that in order to uphold a position on shark and other conservation issues, facts and figures need to be as scientifically sound as current data allows. Rima is a shark conservationist and a scientist in equal measure and is involved in research designed to help sharks survive the pressures facing them. Her work will be extremely useful at a practical level for the sustainable management of shark fisheries in the UAE. As for dissection of sharks, understanding stomach contents alone leads to many insights into the life of sharks. As for inspiration, introducing a group of youngsters to the scientific methodology of her work is a great way to inspire a few new recruits to marine biology. I for one, would rather work with one well intentioned good shark scientist than a room-full of well intentioned but misinformed conservationists in the struggle to defend sharks from the systematic annihilation they are facing. In these times of growing awareness, we can’t afford to make too many mistakes or present inaccurate stats. It is essential that arguments are credible and convincing. Having said that, I would like to ask how you reached the estimate that the UAE supplies 10% of the world’s shark fins from the 70 million sharks killed annually?

By: Arwa Aburawa

Arwa Aburawa — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:41:36 +0000

@David- thanks for the clarification and I appreciate that as the sharks were not caught to be dissected that it changes things somewhat. I am however, still very much against dissection as it’s been widely shown that its uses are over-estimated. I also struggle to see how cutting up a shark inspires people to save them…but that’s just me.

@Aimee- I think you make a very good point, without a ban on eating shark fins, the ban on shark fining feels a little empty.

@Shelley- thanks for your sensible comment and your call for moderation and real action to protect sharks.

By: Shelley

Shelley — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 08:34:46 +0000

It makes me feel sick that we as human beings can be so ignorant and so selfish. Its like we are in a race to see just how quickly we can wipe out all of the other species on the planet (and inevitably ourselves). I am not a huge fan of dissection but I don’t think that its a good enough reason to get in a fight about who is wrong and who is right (@ David and author). I wish there was more good news than bad news these days but it seems that the more we become aware about whats going on out there, the worse it gets. Come on UAE, do something about this already.