As people who regularly read my blog know, I wholeheartedly support Sea Shepherd, Green Peace, Earth First and the preservation of the Planet.  To the point I do not believe tigers, mountain lions or bears who kill a human who is in their territory should be hunted down and killed.

Indeed I actually support capital punishment for poachers who kill endangered species.

I believe all captive orca and dolphins should be freed and the places using them as a form of entertainment should be closed.

I believe we should outlaw drift net fishing as well as the fishing of certain species with strict limits on other species.

Citing your cultural traditions does not carry any weight with me when it comes to your wanting to dine on California Condor or spotted owl.  Wearing lynx, wolf or other furs show be a sign you wish to be assaulted verbally and with paint.

In short, “Fuck you and your cultural values or love of fur.”  My cultural values place a greater value on the life of the creature on the endangered species list, which by the way is too short, than it does on my accepting your right to kill that animal for your pleasure.

From The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/us/06fin.html?_r=1&hp

By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN
Published: March 5, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO — As the proprietor of Chung Chou City, a packed-to-the-gills dried seafood emporium in Chinatown here, Anna Li presides over barrels full of coveted ingredients like dried shrimp eggs and scallops and fried fish stomachs.

The Rolls-Royce of the sea is her shark’s fin, the pricey pièce de résistance of traditional Chinese banquets. “No shark’s fin soup, you’re cheap,” said Mrs. Li, summing up the prevailing ethos toward the steamy glutinous broth, for centuries a symbol of virility, wealth and power.

But in a move that has infuriated Mrs. Li and others in this community, a bill recently introduced in the California Legislature would ban the sale and possession of shark fins, including the serving of shark’s fin soup. Down the rickety alleyways and produce-laden byways of San Francisco’s Chinatown, some see the proposed law as a cultural assault — a sort of Chinese Exclusion Act in a bowl.

Similar to a measure passed in Hawaii, the bill seeks to curtail shark finning, a brutal, bloody practice of the global trade in which the fins are typically hacked off a live shark, leaving it to die slowly as it sinks to the bottom of the sea.

In Hawaii, restaurants have until June 30 to cook or dispose of their fin inventories, and penalties for possession will be severe, with fines of $5,000 to $15,000 for a first offense. Similar bills were introduced in Oregon and Washington State.

Scientists cite a growing international demand for shark’s fin soup, especially popular with China’s expanding middle class. As the once-ceremonial dish becomes more accessible, up to 73 million sharks are being killed a year.

Continue reading at:  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/us/06fin.html?_r=1&hp

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