Christian Gerzner wrote:

> I agree but I think that the concept is more difficult than that. I
> would put it as "every time we've tried to train wild animals in
> modern times to conform to human behaviour patterns, the animals
> lost".

What you say is pretty clearly true, but it's not the point I was trying to
make.  The shark feeders in Florida claimed that their feeding did not
change the normal patterns of shark behavior.  They weren't trying to
domesticate the sharks, they were "just making it possible for more people
to see them in the wild."  Those of us that dive here regularly, without the
benefit of the feedings know just how false their claim of no change in the
norm is.  Long after the feeders have moved to new locations, the sharks
where they were fed remain attracted to humans and quite unafraid to
approach them closely.  I think Mika was with me on a dive out of West Palm
where we literally had to push one or two sharks away just because they were
getting too pesky.  When sharks and humans interact that way, sooner or
later, somebody gets bit, whether on purpose or accident, and when that
happens, sharks die.  Humans are not well known for sharing their habitat
with animals that bite.

> I rejoice in the fact that we
> are slowly getting intelligent enough, I suspect that the almighty
> dollar has quite a lot to do with that, to now farm fish even though
> they're still wild by my definition of that word.

You've got the right motivator, for sure.  The sad side of this is that we
only turned to marine/aquaculture after we'd reduced the wild populations to
levels that clearly would not sustain the business.

> More importantly, I believe, we need to educate those that think that
> rhinoceros horn (it's hair after all) is good for them/shark fin
> and/or the sputum of swallows soup is delicious, the list goes on, are all
old wives tales.

Good luck.

> Not in my lifetime but I suspect that eventually even certain
> foods/cooking methods will be prohibited. Just as China today
> prohibits more than one child per family (with all the problems that
> that entails).

Now there's a prohibition that would be hell to enforce in a society we
still consider free.  Can we feed the extras to the sharks?  8^)

Lee