Month: March 2017

Earth Month Action Plan

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For this upcoming Earth Month, I will be taking four — one action per week — actions to further my understanding and involvement with the fight against shark finning.

Week One: I will sign and share a petition that condemns shark finning. The difficulty in this will be in selecting a petition, particularly one that will reach the ears and eyes of somebody who can inflict change. My hope is to reach somebody within the Chinese government or a Chinese public figure with great cultural influence. When a culture around something changes, it makes legislative change a little bit easier. I hope to use Change.org to find a petition from a reputable source.

Week Two: My second action will be to donate to an organization. Due to their positive reputation, I will donate either to the World Wildlife Fund, Nature Conservancy, Ocean Conservancy, or another organization mentioned in my previous posts concerning shark finning. The challenge here will be picking a denomination in which to donate and deciding which organization will have the most impact on this particular issue.

Week Three: I will take the public education approach here by making an infographic about shark finning. What’s hard about this action is simply the time and effort that goes into creating a good infographic. I will then post it on social media and tag an organization doing good work about shark finning and encourage my friends and followers to donate, get involved, or become informed about the topic.

Week Four: My final action will be to contact a representative. Since this is a matter of foreign relations to a certain extent, a problem could be in choosing a representative. A few possibilities include congresspeople on committees concerning the environment, committees concerning which types of companies can produce in the United States (for instance, ask that the U.S. doesn’t allow companies that endorse or condone shark finning to produce here), or a government representative that works with foreign countries about the environment. Another option would be to send a letter to a U.S. representative to the United Nations asking them to open a dialogue about the issue with other world leaders.

Nonprofit Reflection

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Nonprofits play an integral role in dealing with issues that plague our society. For the issue of shark finning, nonprofits mainly focus on educating the public and encouraging public policy figures to pass legislation protecting shark populations.

Something the nonprofit speakers mentioned that stuck with me was something that they look for in volunteers and employees: consistency. Both representatives said that they seek out people who can commit to a steady time; for example, one hour every week. As somebody who volunteers a lot when I’m home, I’ve heard this response repeatedly and see the value in it.

Volunteer work can range greatly from organization to organization, but I think in terms of the shark finning issue, volunteer work looks very political. This kind of involvement includes calling, writing, and emailing my congressional representatives as well as signing petitions.

This is a time in which I stress another point about the issue of shark finning specifically: as a citizen of the United States, where shark finning is illegal, I am limited. Not only am I limited by location, I am also limited in jurisdiction. I am not Chinese or Vietnamese, I have never had shark fin soup, and I have never been impacted directly by the shark fin industry. That being said, I can attest to scientific fact which states that this practice is unsustainable, unstable, and dangerous. Because of this, I find getting involved through a nonprofit which may have a better, more holistic source of information to be a wiser, more socially-conscious plan of action.

From the class, though, I recognize that the most important thing to do is to do anything. Almost anything is better than nothing.

Through the Lens: Non-Profits

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Non-profit organizations are the driving force behind movement on my issue. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an international non-profit that focuses on the protection of marine wildlife through ending destructive processes that kill and displace our ocean’s inhabitants. WildAid is another organization working to end shark finning as well other illegal wildlife trade. Similar to how corporations hire celebrities and public figures to promote their products, WildAid utilizes the influence of Chinese public figures (as well as western celebrities) to spread its message through public awareness campaigns. The Shark Trust is a charitable nonprofit that pushes for change by influencing governmental policy about the treatment of sharks and rays.

People can get involved with nonprofits in several ways. Donating to support these groups usually helps them advocate on behalf of sharks and other wildlife, but giving money falls under the category of the Personally Responsible Citizen. While it is important to move past this phase, the actions of those who act within these parameters are vital to maintaining organization activity; nonprofits rely on donations to continue their work. 

Nonprofits will also often encourage members and participatory citizens to sign petitions regarding their issues. Ocean Conservancy, a charity on behalf of the ocean and the creatures who call it home, runs several petitions per week — one of them called for its members to “Take Action To Save Whale Sharks” by giving their electronic signatures on a page to show cruise lines Carvinal and Royal Caribbean that people care about sharks and that they’d like those companies to alter their routes by only seven miles to avoid an area where whale sharks come to feed and mate annually. This approach was effective; on September 4th, 2015, an update was posted saying that the 73,000 supporters of the petition were heard and that Ocean Conservancy was now in direct conversation with the cruise ship industry.

Nonprofits often strongly encourage their members and supporters to contact their respective government representatives. This is similar to a petition in that it shows people with power in enact change that the masses care about this issue and have a particular opinion/wish about how that issue should be addressed. Often these organizations will draft a standard outline of an email to send to their representatives that members can personalize. Phone calls and letters are preferred, but emails are utilized more often due to their ease and timeliness. Both contacting one’s representative and signing a petition fall under the label of the Participatory Citizen. These actions are effective in creating change, but even better than the Participatory Citizen actions are the Social-Justice Oriented Citizen.

The Social-Justice Oriented Citizen understands that shark finning is ingrained in Chinese culture dating back to the Ming Dynasty. The Citizen sees that cultural perspective as well as the social viewpoint, that shark fin soup is a symbol of wealth and respect for one’s guests. Beyond that, the Citizen acknowledges the economic side of the issue — that an industry has been built upon these unsustainable practices, and that some people’s livelihoods depend on this industry.

Changing the way we look at both sharks and the people who hunt them is the best way to see the issue holistically. For the time being, sharks need the freedom from their human predators to replenish their populations. Meanwhile, we need to be aware of the impacts of not hunting sharks for shark fin soup. Those people who do hunt sharks are going to need another source of income, or at very least job training/education in making their work more sustainable.

Community Organizing Reflection

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When sitting in class, listening to the speakers on Community Organizing, I was incredibly impressed with their resilience and drive. To start a movement or organization with nothing previously established is not an unimpressive feat. In the context of shark finning, I am fortunate that there are organizations already established focusing on this issue. For me to start yet another one, in my opinion, would be redundant and an ineffective way to dedicate my time and resources. A better route to take would be to support groups championing this cause through fundraising and spreading awareness. My issue is difficult in the sense that it is anything but close to home. When I put energy into resolving this problem, it is not one that many people can relate to locally. The residents of the city of Columbus will not directly feel the effects of an end to shark finning. But that does not mean that the issue is any less important.

From the class, the main lesson that I gathered is: do something. Anything. The hardest part is getting started, but once you do, it is much easier to gain movement. Even if the action taken is not the best choice, it is a choice, and it can lead to future, better choices. Political theorist and philosopher Edmund Burke once declared: “Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do so little.”

I think my next step is to designate which organization(s) to donate to, what kind of petition to create, how to go about fundraising, and what route I should take to educate the public on this issue.