Fishermen in Mexico shoot down environmental group's drone

[Mike Mercury]

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The environmental group Sea Shepherd says fishermen fired 25 shots at one of its night-vision drones in Mexico's Gulf of California, bringing it down.

Various drones have been employed to patrol the Gulf, also known as the Sea of Cortez, to combat illegal fishing and save the critically endangered vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise.

Sea Shepherd has been the target of demonstrations by fishermen in the past, but said the Christmas Eve shooting represented "a new level of violence."

The group said Tuesday that its drone had located four small boats illegally fishing for totoaba, a fish whose swim bladder is prized in China.

The vaquita population has dropped to less than 30 because gill nets set for the totoaba can trap the porpoise.

[lspencer534]

Drones can be made to return fire...

[Fasglas]

Prototype Quadrotor with Machine Gun! - YouTube

[Stangkiller]

So some asshole environuts were harassing fishermen...and they’re claiming the victim when the fishermen defended themselves? The sea shepherds can **** off.

[FasterTraffic]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

So some asshole environuts were harassing fishermen...and they’re claiming the victim when the fishermen defended themselves? The sea shepherds can **** off.

Maybe. I'd need a bit more info on this. The other perspective is that sea poachers don't want to be caught breaking the law while they wipe out a bunch of species so some Chinese asshat can have swim bladder soup instead of Viagra.

[Kerrmudgeon]

Be careful what you shoot down that doesn't belong to you...otherwise......

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by FasterTraffic

Maybe. I'd need a bit more info on this. The other perspective is that sea poachers don't want to be caught breaking the law while they wipe out a bunch of species so some Chinese asshat can have swim bladder soup instead of Viagra.

Here’s the sea shepherds video, I guarantee you they were dive bombing and harassing the skiffs.

YouTube

These are the same idiots/international criminals/pirates that have been assaulting the Japanese fishing fleets...they should all be in jail. They’ve gone so far to board foreign ships.

YouTube

[Kerrmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

Here’s the sea shepherds video, I guarantee you they were dive bombing and harassing the skiffs.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mmOZO70I2Ws


These are the same idiots/international criminals/pirates that have been assaulting the Japanese fishing fleets...they should all be in jail. They’ve gone so far to board foreign ships.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KDsZcLVXyn8

So how do you think the world should stop illegal fishing?

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Kerrmudgeon

Be careful what you shoot down that doesn't belong to you...otherwise......

Sorry but if you’re in shotgun range in international waters, you asked for it.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Kerrmudgeon

So how do you think the world should stop illegal fishing?

Were they even fishing? What’s to say they weren’t delivering my next shipment of coke?

Not with illegal pirates. If Mexico and us want to stop it, it’s their waters to enforce, not a fewasshats. Want to stop the Japanese whaling fleets? Use your diplomatic Route not, again a few asshats

[OddBall]

The Sea Sheppard has a noble goal, but as usual it uses ignoble means to achieve that goal.
They could be far more effective and a hell of a lot more credible just surveilling and going public with the results. The drone use is a step in the right direction, but if they are using the drones to "attack" the fishermen, then they are nothing more than thugs on the sea. It is not their place to stop the fishermen. Just report them to the authorities and then let the public know. That'll put the authorities in a position that they have to step up their game.


One of these days, they are going to tango with some real pirates, and that will be the end of their story.

[FasterTraffic]

In this specific situation, the Sea Shepherd folks are the good guys. According to the article below, they call in poachers to the Mexican Navy. It does, however, sound like Mexico needs to put more teeth into their enforcement. The US is already on board and China clearly isn't going to do jack s**t on their side.

By the mid-20th century, Chinese demand for certain fish bladders had eviscerated stocks of the giant yellow croaker, which once thrived off China’s coast...

The totoaba, a 120-pound fish found in the Upper Gulf of Mexico, has a bladder that resembles that of the croaker’s — making it a prime target of poaching. It’s suspected that drug cartels pay local fishermen in the region to catch the fish and deliver the prized organ.

While the six-foot-long totoabas are then dumped back into the sea, their dried bladders are shipped to Asia. At retail pricing, each bladder can fetch from $6,700 to more than $30,000 depending on its weight and other characteristics.

$30K fish bladder fuels poaching, trafficking and wildlife crisis - The San Diego Union-Tribune

[Jasper711]

It is all fun and games for the hipsters and celebrities accustomed to polite American society that gives them much protection with their "brave mission" etc. however; if they start messing with 2nd and 3rd world food supplies, there will be a rude awakening.

[FasterTraffic]

Originally Posted by Jasper711

It is all fun and games for the hipsters and celebrities accustomed to polite American society that gives them much protection with their "brave mission" etc. however; if they start messing with 2nd and 3rd world food supplies, there will be a rude awakening.

That could not be any farther from the situation here. Seriously.

[Jasper711]

Originally Posted by FasterTraffic

That could not be any farther from the situation here. Seriously.

Well, it looked like the Drone got shot down to me, not common occurrence in America.

[FasterTraffic]

Originally Posted by Jasper711

Well, it looked like the Drone got shot down to me, not common occurrence in America.

Your previous comment was, "if they start messing with 2nd and 3rd world food supplies, there will be a rude awakening." This isn't a fishing-for-food situation in any way, shape, or form. It's another situation like with poaching of the White Rhino just for its horn. As I quoted above, they pull the fish up, cut out the swim bladder, and then dump the carcass back in the sea.

These are the cliffs notes, as I understand it:

• Rich Chinese like swim bladders from a certain fish for good luck, medicinal, decorative, other bulls**t reason.
• Chinese over-fish their own coastline and basically wipe out that fish.
• Chinese decide they like swim bladders from new fish in the Gulf of Mexico.
• Chinese government says, "No more swim bladders. <wink, wink>"
• Drug cartels already have distribution covered and see profit in swim bladders.
• Cartels pay poachers to drop gill nets and catch everything just so it scoops up this new fish.
• New fish and every other fish (or mammal) in the Gulf of Mexico dwindle.

By the way, if you're not aware of how out of control the white rhino situation has become, read this:

French police on the hunt for poachers who killed a white rhino in a zoo - LA Times