This is more of a personal rant sorry in advance if I piss anyone off but speaking my mind is my way...
Fishingdude is going to med school in the Island I was born and raised in(Grenada) and took this picture of a by-catch that the lobster fishermen on the first day of lobster season took
Now many of you might not see this as shocking and have been exposed to this either due to your age or cultural exposure to Pacific island cultures or Caribbean cultures, there is a season in the Southern Caribbean islands from August 1st till 31 st of March i believe on all turtle species... Now as barbaric as this seems to me personally, I think to open anyones eyes all they need to see is a turtle cry itself to death(they have tear ducts same as us and express pain) as it dies a slow painful death on a beach on its back, if they are merciful they take a cutlass to its head and chop it off. Most times they die in nets though but a great number are speared to death by spear fishermen in the Caribbean...But as I was saying barbaric as this seems to me anyone who kills animals for food is in a tough position I think to judge what another persons kills and eats, so although I make emotional decisions on what I think is right to kill and what is wrong that is personal and allows me no right to judge in all fairness I believe. Chinese and other Asian cultures see no problems with sustainable farming of cats and dogs as food, even rats(emotional choices remember)...
BUT I can do so from a sustainable harvesting point of view or even a economic point of view as in the Caribbean I dont know of any Island outside of Trinidad(oil rich) that is not in some way Dependant on tourism dollars, so to target species like turtles that have the "awww so cute" response from the cultures that vacation in the Caribbean islands is counter productive. As well most turtle species are dieing out at faster rate than is sustainable in large part due to environmental pressures not only overfishing but unsustainable is unsustainable!!
Well if that doesn't rock your boat here is another subject, this one I dont candy coat for any reason..WHALES AND DOLPHINS... Now the tourist board of any island will not like this to get around but truth is truth, St Vincent and the island of St Lucia and several other Caribbean islands on smaller scales slaughter(harvest) dolphins(all species) and all small whale species. This goes on unmonitored, unchecked, it is actually encouraged, supported and financed by the Japanese government by the by, they will harpoon entire pods babies and all and boast about how they are the easiest species to target as they will actually come alongside the boats. There are no controls, limits or seasons locally or internationally on any of the dolphin or majority of whale species(fact) Just in case anyone wants to argue the point my wife represented whaling at the IWC (international whaling commission) for many years as part of her job with the St Vincent government, she no longer works there (she is not a supporter of whaling but was part of her job). I am not making a political argument or even a cultural argument simply trying to express my view and open some eyes. Actually when I was eighteen and did my first of many sailing(by wind) trips across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean sea in the late eighties was where I first learned of the killing of dolphins( a species i was raised to revere) on a massive scale to be used as dog food... And actually it was the Americans that taught St Vincent to whale..But should we not all not make moral and ethical choices not based solely on science? Is sustainability enough of a reason to target species we come to emotionaly identify with and accept as socially sophisticated and intelligent?? what the hell do I know I am just a boat captain with opinions 
I think speros as stake holders in the oceans need to have opinions and voice them same as any other fishermen..Do keep in mind I try to accept that some cultures will eat my best mate Achilles(my dog) and see what i consider from a cultural bias as "awww so cute" as simply another meal. From a spero point of view I wont shoot parrot fish or any other "pretty reef species" like French angels(yes i am a big girls panty on this point :D), young fish, over harvest in any one day(shoot only what you can eat is MOSTLY my policy),I on occasion will shoot lots of Barracuda for gas money for the trip or go trigger happy in a killing lust in big schools of my target species (yeah yeah I am a occasional hypocrite) but we are ****ing up the planet with methane gas from animal farming on a insane scale so go buy some meat if you want to feed a ****ing army! :laughing3: :@ (sorry PETA :laughing:)
