Save GingerGuide To My MemberArea

A line in the sand from Sheung Wan to Legco
How Shark Rescue is launching its call for true leadership

This is not an issue that only a few troublemakers are worried about, asserts Shark Rescue, the newest face in Hong Kong’s social-enterprise scene. This is about maintaining a healthy world for all of us. As a main maritime and trade hub, Hong Kong is a leader in many areas, but not all of them are good for our future health. Specifically, as the world’s leading trade hub and consumer of shark products, the city is fueling the systematic destruction of the Earth’s oceans. On Tuesday, we’re launching our campaign to ask if Hong Kong can become a leader of the right kind.

On Wednesday, 10 August at 12:30pm, Shark Rescue will hold a press conference on the corner of Des Voeux Road and Bonham Strand West, in Sheung Wan. At 1:00pm, Shark Rescue’s spokesperson – dressed in a shark costume – will head upstream through Des Voeux Road to Legco, where he will present the first call to action to Chief Executive Donald Tsang. The message: Please do the right thing and lead Hong Kong towards protecting sharks and the health of our oceans.

“We’re holding our demonstration on what will hopefully be the hottest day of the summer,” said Ran Elfassy, spokesperson for Shark Rescue. “As I will be in a shark costume, the discomfort I’ll feel will communicate the concerns that the conservation community and general public have about Hong Kong’s role in marine-habitat destruction.”

The demonstration will come to a close when Ran presents to the Chief Executive a call to action to be a real leader, to lead towards Hong Kong’s greater good. The call to action is in the form of a post card, the same offered to supporters of Shark Rescue.

As of July 2009, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature found that 32% of shark species are now endangered. Strong evidence suggests this is changing the balance of the oceans. Shark Rescue aims to help Hong Kong find alternatives to the near-sighted, unsustainable consumption and trade of shark products.

•    For more information, please visit:     www.sharkrescue.com
•    To view the postcard, please visit:     www.sharkrescue.com/img/postcard-1.jpg

Contact:    

Ran Elfassy
+852 6256 4353
ran@sigeimedia.com

Shark/shark-trade Fact Sheet

There are many reasons for ending the trade of shark products, most notably because most shark populations are already seriously endangered, and shark fisheries are threatening marine habitats the world over.

1.    As of July 2009, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group (SSG), found that one third of sharks are at risk for extinction, with only three species loosely protected.
2.    Saying it is OK to continue to eat shark because it is part of one’s culture doesn’t mean endangering sharks is OK. After all, it is only a matter of food. As a powerful example showing how cultures can change for the better, it used to be part of most cultures to treat women as inferior to men. But societies evolved, improving things for everyone. Cultures can adapt, and people can learn.
3.    Every year, around 100 million sharks are killed for their fins, liver oil, meat and teeth. Shark finning, which wastes from 80-95% of the carcass, accounts for nearly 75% of shark kills.
4.    Shark fin catches are very cruel, something no open and caring society should support. Boat crews slice off the fins and the body is thrown overboard. The shark, often still alive, sinks to the bottom and drowns while bleeding to death.
5.    Over 55% of the world's shark fins come through Hong Kong. Of the sharks that come through Hong Kong, nearly one third comes from the European Union. This makes Hong Kong the leader in the shark trade.
6.    It's easy to endanger sharks. The fish take a very long time to reproduce, and when they do, they don't have many young. Some sharks only have 2 'pups' at a time, and some carry their young for up to 2 years. Once the population is reduced, it takes many decades to recover, if at all.
7.    The shark trade is not a sustainable fishery – fish farms cannot raise sharks. Shark products being sold around the world come from delicately balanced reefs and other marine ecosystems. When sharks are gone, many other fish soon follow, leaving the people who made their livelihood from shark fishing stuck with no source of income.  Not to work on alternative fisheries is short-sighted and unethical.
8.    Eighty percent of all shark species are smaller than the average person. Their size alone makes most sharks harmless to people.
9.     Every year, sharks cause fewer deaths than lightening, dogs, deer, falling coconuts or even soda-pop vending machines!     

About Sigei Media: The Company was launched in 2006 to provide creative and editorial services to Po Chung, founder of DHL International (the global courier company). Driven by a conservation ethic and a deep commitment to creating sustainable business, Sigei Media aims to improve people’s lives through innovative, powerful communications, and works to be profitable but not at the expense of others or the biosphere.

The call to action that Shark Rescue will present to Hong Kong’s Chief Executive. On one side, the graphic asks: Is this the end of the shark trade; the extinction of one shark species; the extinction of many specie; the end of marine health? Like at the end of a movie, this haunting image is being featured on the call to action and more. On the back of the postcard, we call on the Chief Executive Donald Tsang to “please do the right thing and lead Hong Kong towards protecting sharks and the health of our oceans.”