RAY SKIN WANTED FOR RESTORATION

fearn · 5th December 2007, 08:36 PM

Here's the environmentalist message:

Sharks and rays are declining all over the world, due to overfishing (i.e. for shark fins), by-catch, and habitat loss. Some of the largest rays and sharks are endangered, whether they are listed or not. The basic problem for all these fish is that they are long-lived and reproduce slowly. Hence, any poorly controlled fishing can mess them up quickly, and they take a long time to recover. As top predators, their disappearance has major impacts all the way down the food chain, and can cause things like increased disease outbreaks in game fish (sharks eat sick fish and can stop outbreaks) and unwelcome changes in coral reef structure (coral-eating fish multiply, and overgraze reefs).

That said, I'm not against using shagrin on a sword. The question is, can you use existing skin (perhaps by recycling it from a woman's purse) as opposed to killing a ray just for a hand-sized piece of skin? If you can, then it makes sense to do so. Considering CITES issues, it also makes sense to use a demonstrably older resource, because those are not regulated by CITES regulations, whereas fresh material is.

My 0.02 cents,

F

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5th December 2007, 08:36 PM	#8
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Here's the environmentalist message: Sharks and rays are declining all over the world, due to overfishing (i.e. for shark fins), by-catch, and habitat loss. Some of the largest rays and sharks are endangered, whether they are listed or not. The basic problem for all these fish is that they are long-lived and reproduce slowly. Hence, any poorly controlled fishing can mess them up quickly, and they take a long time to recover. As top predators, their disappearance has major impacts all the way down the food chain, and can cause things like increased disease outbreaks in game fish (sharks eat sick fish and can stop outbreaks) and unwelcome changes in coral reef structure (coral-eating fish multiply, and overgraze reefs). That said, I'm not against using shagrin on a sword. The question is, can you use existing skin (perhaps by recycling it from a woman's purse) as opposed to killing a ray just for a hand-sized piece of skin? If you can, then it makes sense to do so. Considering CITES issues, it also makes sense to use a demonstrably older resource, because those are not regulated by CITES regulations, whereas fresh material is. My 0.02 cents, F