Cuomo Catches and Kills a Threatened Species
By Lauren Stallings Clement / Conservation Editor / August 29, 2016
[dropcap]N[/dropcap]ew York Governor Andrew Cuomo drew ire from conservation groups today after tweeting a picture of himself on Aug. 28 standing next to a fresh kill. He and his brother had taken down a thresher shark, a threatened species. All members of genus Alopias, the thresher sharks, are listed as vulnerable globally.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, just for the boast of it, catches and kills a 154.5-pound thresher shark, a Threatened Species. The shark? Thrown in the dumpster. Nice. Photo credit www.grindtv.com.
While the governor and his brother may not have committed an illegal act, they certainly didn’t set a good precedent. In fact, according to the Guardian, they are simply continuing a rather dismal trend of a northeastern American obsession with shark hunting. As Oliver Milman and Karl Mathiesen reported, these hunts damage shark breeding population and succeed with industry brands’ advertising and wealthy participants.
It may seem an overreaction to criticize a politician for fishing, but consider his duties as New York’s governor. Long Island’s marine environment is vital to its environmental health, and that falls directly under the concerns of the governor. This sport can be easily be practiced without the need to target threatened species. Harvesting this meat is not necessary and eating can be hazardous as it is very high in mercury levels. But macho men like to hang ’em high at the dock and so it continues.
