Killing a whale shark

Killing a gentle giant for food. I think I don't I need to add any commentary.

		Mon, Aug 24, 2009 AsiaOne
Whale shark caught and hacked into pieces in Johor
A quiet lunch affair at a seafood restaurant turned awry and bloody when a whale shark, size of a pick-up truck, was hauled onto the jetty and hacked into pieces. A Singaporean eye-witness who was having his meal at the restaurant, south of Johor, Malaysia, at that time wrote this account: "I was there having lunch with some friends at a seafood restaurant when a local walked in and told the boss that a big shark was caught. "I did not give much thought to it until the workers who went there to see came back and told their fellow colleagues that the shark was as big as a pick-up. "This caught my attention. We paid for our meal and went over to the jetty to have a look. "When we reached the jetty, it was already quite crowded. I managed to squeeze in some photos as the poor shark was being sliced by a hack saw. Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: STOMP) According to the eye-witness, the catch could have been the joint efforts of three fishing boats which had brought the big fish in from the South China Sea, as he had overheard conversations from the crowd. "As you can see, the shark was being chopped up, did not stay long to watch as we had to catch our ferry. "Seeing the poor guy being chopped up, I was quite sad. "What you see in picture is very different from the actual situation. There was the noise from the hack saw, blood flowing out etc."

I'd like to put this guy on a few menus. Write him and tell him what you think of him.

Contact details

Please use the details below:

The Seafood Restaurant
Riverside
Padstow
Cornwall
PL28 8BY

TEL: 01841 532700
FAX: 01841 532942

Email: reservations@rickstein.com

Rick Stein vows to continue using endangered fish in his restaurants

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:31 PM on 14th October 2008

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Defiant: Rick Stein said he would lose 80 per cent of his menus if he followed government and fishery guidelines

Rick Stein, Britain's top seafood chef, has vowed to go on using endangered species of fish in his acclaimed restaurants despite warnings of over-fishing.

The 61-year-old claimed following government and fishery guidelines would lose him 80 per cent of his menus and he would not be able to keep his four restaurants in Padstow going.

And, controversially, he questioned whether the fish stocks situation is really as bad as the government and marine conservationists are saying.

'I don't know how to say this without people getting very stroppy with me,' he told fans at the Cheltenham Literature Festival.

'If I was going to stick to what they (government bodies) want, it would wipe out about 80 per cent of the species I use.

'I would be left with pollock, lots of mackerel, and herring. I couldn't run a menu with it.

'There are lots of fish which are endangered and which we are told we should not be touching - hake, cod, brill, monkfish.

'All these fish the Marine Conservation Society says we should not be using.'

But he said there is now evidence that many species are recovering as a result of fishing boats around Europe being bought up and decommissioned.

There were signs of improvement but official bodies were still saying things are going wrong rather than acknowledging they could now be going right, he said.

'I am not going to go to the newspapers and say this is what's now happening because someone will clobber me but I would say that in a limited area like this it is not all bad,' he said.

'It is certainly not all bad in Cornwall.'

Asked if he thought the government and fishery chiefs were worrying too much he said 'I do'.

'Padstein': Stein has been accused of spoiling the Cornish village of Padstow where he runs four restaurants

'There is a lot of overfishing, I don't deny that, he said. 'But I don't think we are really prepared to look at signs that things are getting better. I almost think we don't want to, really.

'Journalists tell us we are eating far too much fish and we shouldn't be eating this, that and the other and we like to believe that.'

Rick also admitted that as well as using fish from the endangered list he also uses farmed fish - although not in his best known and most expensive establishment, the Sea Food Restaurant.

'At the end of the day I have got a business to run. A small (farmed) bass or sea bream is still quite a nice fish to eat. I'm just being honest.

'I do do my best. I won't sell swordfish or blue tuna and monkfish if it is clear there are none around.

'But with a lot of these fish, like monkfish, the quota is going up. I think it is not all what it appears in the newspapers.'

Rick also acknowledged that there are people in Padstow who do not like the way his business has expanded in the town - leading some to dub it 'Padstein' because so many of the eateries, hotels, shops and delicatessens are his.

He said: 'I think a lot of what I call real locals who were born in Padstow like us to be there. We bring money into the community. And we do try to spend locally whenever we can.'