Conservation and squid video

[Steve O'Shea]

This is a repeat post (I have posted it in the juvenile Sepioteuthis thread also), but it is likely to get lost there (with subsequent posts being made to that thread). It is an edited version of the piece that aired on television several weeks ago (quite a few segments have been edited from the screened version).

You have to go to my picture on the staff page and click the wee icon below that says 'video'.
Me

http://www.aut.ac.nz/eos/staff/index.shtml

There are more interesting things about to happen over here!!

 

[ArchyNorth]

First of all, sorry for dragging up an 9 month old post

Steve,

As you said in the video, the trawlers could provide you with specimens for research, and I know it was the captain who said he wasn't going to help anymore, not you refusing the help. But I'm curious if you have been able to "mend" relationships with them?

It's too bad Workers (trawlers in this case) and conservationsits can't work together to come up with better harvesting practices.

The timber harvest is a prime example here in Canada. Clear-cutting of an area is the most economical practice, yet it completely destroys the environment in that particular area. Plus, if they clear-cut on a slope, the topsoil looses its stability and erodes away. There are "better" forms of tree harvesting but they would require less people to do the work. That equals more expense to the company, which equals loss of jobs, which is the issue that gets the workers up in arms. There have been many run-ins with conservationists and lumber workers, which have not always been peaceful. These run-ins have degenerated the situation to a point where there seems to be little communication between the 2 camps.

Anyway, sorry for the long example I used in comparison to your situation, but I would hate to think that all bridges have been burned for you.

Found this News Release about 960,000 hectares of ocean off of the Alaskan coast protected from bottom trawling. At least some people listen.

On a side note. I haven't seen anything in the posts on this site, so I would assume not but, were you able to catch more larvae?

cheers,

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Howdo Arthur. I'm afraid that bridges are well-and-truly 'officially' burnt, but unofficially there are a number of things happening between a couple of fishermen and myself (we've just secured one small contract from Industry, and have received another giant squid in the past couple of weeks - with big plans for it).

I'm afraid that there's a rather major court-case looming - there'll be press about this one - in which I'm involved, that won't just burn what remaining 'bridge' exists, it will nuke it. So, I'll just continue to sit there in the office, with curtains drawn, jumping at any noise in the corridor or outside the window. It is a double-edged sword - get the material and shut up, or get the material and speak out (then lose the material).

I haven't been out on any larval Archi-catching excursion for a while - I simply haven't the time right now; things are quite out of control. I've taken to dipping nets in the water next to jetties in a (remarkably) heavily polluted area downtown and catching larval squid that way (it's proven quite effective) - but they're just baby broad squid (as if I don't have enough of them right now).

 

[ArchyNorth]

Ugg,

I'm sorry to hear that the situation has degenerated to that point. Gotta love sticking up for the small guy and his values.

Anyway, Best of luck with the court case and I hope you don't suffer to harshly due to the press. They love a scandal

I'm impressed that you can dip for squid larvae off of a jetty.
If the water is so polluted, how is the health of the squid?

 

[rvangeld]

no access

I have attempted to use the link you have provided in your post, but it comes up as saying page not found or may have been removed. Any other way I could access it?

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Hmmmmm. Obviously that site has gone ( ). We're going through a major faculty reshuffle right now; perhaps the entire website is being modified. I'll track something down and repost.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

OK, the entire site has changed .... and for the worse I might add. Hope they didn't pay anyone to do that (navigation is easier, but the content is 'orrible, 4-years obsolte, and some new info is lost!).

I'll see what I can find out.

 

[Infusoria]

Hi, Going a bit off topic here - sorry

From an Ex-web designers perspective, the new AUT website is UNSPEAKABLY AWFUL. The overall look seems amateurish, the gaps between images are all different and elements don't line up, it's just sloppy and/or incompetent. The same can be said for the graphical elements, you just don't use Photoshop's 'inner shadow' on thin text, it just looks like a beginner made this. There's a reason navigation tends to be found on the left-hand side. Usability studies have shown that that's where people look first, this has been re-enforced through years of internet design. It's not a case of "well it was on that side last time - let's do something different".

Also this site has at least 2 different design themes on the same page (You sooo don't do this), which quite frankly are fighting each other. I would put money on this site being designed by the 'coders' that built it, based a brief from a committee, who didn't know what they wanted.

Steve, it probably cost tens of thousands.

Cynical, moi?

 

[chrono_war01]

aw, it's even worst than my website..

Getting web pages re-done should cost a lot.