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Is this what they call the circle of life?
By adamg on Mon, 08/08/2011 - 1:23pm
UPDATE: It was all a joke. Apparently landlubbers like me don't know when to take a Gloucester lobsterman seriously.
So these Buddhist monks went up to Gloucester and bought 534 live lobsters so that they could set them free in the ocean. Good Morning Gloucester reports some loberstermen heard about that, figured out where the release was, went out and hauled up exactly 534 lobsters to sell:
Thank you and come again next year Mr Buddhist monks, we would like to invite you back again and again to purchase our lobsters and "restock the pond."
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Comments
Sad
That's pretty sad. I don't think the monks' "action" was ever going to be particularly effective (and I do understand that lobstermen have a tough road and need to make money where they can) but I feel really sorry for the monks that someone literally followed behind them, completely negated their actions and then made fun of them after.
I think this would be much
I think this would be much more amusing if they did this to PETA, in fact, I would pay to watch this happen to PETA. I sorta feel bad for the monks though... Regardless, I got a little chuckle.
Agreed. If PETA did this,
Agreed. If PETA did this, they would do it in an over-the-top way as to make themselves seem like jerks. As it is, these lobstermen come off as jerks instead.
Why?
Just curious, but why the difference? Same behavior, slightly different, but similar irrational reasoning behind that behavior. So why do the monks get a pass?
(Disclosure; I've got nothing in particular against these monks, and feel that PETA members start and end the day being jerks.)
PETA
I'm a vegetarian who believes in animal rights, and I think that PETA is full of crap. Someone should follow the money.
I think you answered your own
I think you answered your own question with the last sentence --personally I have an existing negative perception of PETA based on their actions in the past, which seem to sometimes involve things like trespassing and destroying other people's stuff. So I'd have less sympathy for them.
Well...
I'm curious why the lobstermen come out looking bad in either case?
dicks and douches
With PETA it's a PR event. With the monks, it really doesn't seem that way. It's more of a special interest story that someone decided to report on.
Plus PETA is one of those gigantic Washington funded organizations that do little to actually help their cause, but instead love to PR it up and promote controversy to fundraise to pay the people working for the organization.
As it is, yeah the fishermen here really do come off as dicks and douches IMO. Also, a little creepy.
There's things you can do, and things you just shouldn't. This qualifies as one of those things.
Because they're humble,
Because they're humble, non-confrontational and not zealots?
They're releasing the lobsters as an action within their own belief system,
Not as a stunt to change someone else's.
BINGO!
n/t
Karma
is a bitch!
In China and Southeast Asia,
In China and Southeast Asia, there is an annual tradition of releasing captured animals to the wild in the spirit of generosity. Of course, first they have to be caught before they can be released, so every year huge numbers of wild animals are killed in the process.
These monks were following the same disastrous tradition.
Um, yes, those lobsters had
Um, yes, those lobsters had to be caught to be released. The monks of course did not capture the lobsters, and were releasing them as a symbol of their disagreement with said capture.
Are you saying that in China animals are caught solely to be symbolically released? If so, how is it that the monks are following that same "disastrous" tradition? Because they are Asian? I don't follow how you are connecting these.
On the street in Asian
On the street in Asian cities, there are people with flocks of caged birds who get tourists to pay to have them released. But the birds are trained to fly right back into the cage after the sucker is gone.
Have you been
to an Asian market?
The animals are going to be caught regardless to used as food and traditional medicine. It's almost sickening just how much and many different animals are in a traditional Asian market, most coming from the wild and not from farming.
Hell, you can buy illegal bear bile in CA.
Asian mysticism is increasingly going to be the greatest threat to animals species as their connection to the international market grow with their wallets.
With that said, these monks bought lobsters already slated for a dinner plate. And we have smart limits on lobster fishing (although they should be stricter)
Just for laffs
Imagine the reaction if the monks were Christian and the fishermen were Asian.
Well, Duh
It seems to me that if the Buddhist monks wished to be a bit more successful in this undertaking, they might have thought to not dress in their ceremonial robes and bring along photographers and newspaper people. Had they dressed in suits and let the lobstermen think they were just buying the lobsters for the usual fate, it probably would have resulted in more lobster freedom, no?
Anyway, the stupid damn lobsters had a second chance but they walked back into the traps again of their own accord.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Blame the monks
They totally weren't prepared for Massholes.
Is there a quota on lobster?
Is there a quota on lobster? Because if these lobster were counted twice towards that quota (the first time when they were caught and then bought by the monks and the second time when they were bought by the lobstermen) than technically the monks would be succeeding because even though the lobstermen would hit their quota, 534 lobster would have been killed. They just wouldn't be the same 534 lobster the monks intended to free.
Good question
Apparently there is no quota or "season", although I believe there are federal regulations on the number of pots one can put out.
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dmf/commercialfishing/l...
Also, if I remember correctly, there's federal legislation going through to finally limit the season / protect them a bit more. I'm a-o-k with that, especially seeing all the problems we're having with overfishing and habitat destruction.
Seems Fishy (sorry...)
If the monks released them from a boat into some depth, it seems unlikely to me that the lobstermen would catch the exact same lobsters. But, I don't know much about catching lobsters and their behaviors.
Same number, not necessarily same exact lobsters
No doubt some were the same, but, yeah, without banding or however it is scientists track lobsters, no way to know for sure.
Shell Game
I doubt they were the same lobsters, and I didn't know lobstermen could count that high anyway (ducks). Sounds like some ripe tamale to me ...
turns out it's not true
The lobsters were not recaptured:
http://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2011/08...
Did the Monks remember to cut the rubber bands off the claws?
I knew of a woman who, upon hearing that a ten pound lobster in a restaurant's tank may be 40+ years old, decided to buy it and release it. She forgot to remove the rubber bands from its claws before setting it free off a local beach. It's unclear if the creature survived.
If you take 60 seconds to read the article:
"A group of Tibetan Buddhists flanked the sides of a whale-watching boat at dusk on Wednesday, sprayed the lobsters with blessed water, clipped the bands binding their dangerous claws and gently released them one by one into the deep water below."
Thanks anon 5:31 pm
Thanks! Why take the time to read it when you can do it for me?
Reminds me of a Maine
Reminds me of a Maine story.
MNBA the credit card company came into Belfast Me.
They had an old Yankee neighbor who, among other things, sold bikes from in front of his house to make ends meet.
The suits thought his sales lot didn't complement their new corporate offices.
They bought all the bikes and brought them to the dump.
No surprise this guy spent plenty if time there himself.
Hr collected up all his old bikes and promptly had them out for sale again.
Sums up Maine pretty well, I've always thought.
A good story, but apparently
A good story, but apparently not actually true:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2000-10-03/news/0...
Too bad, I liked the underdog
Too bad, I liked the underdog aspect.
thanks for the correction though.
just as I suspected
Maine is a state full of douches
karma
everyone stands on the shore and prays whenever a fishing boat is lost at sea.
it seems like bad karma for these guys to tempt fate like this.
someday one of these guys might need a prayer and maybe someone might remember this story and say "fuck those assholes, ill save my prayers for people that have souls."
While I don't begrudge the lobstermen their living
the overall tone of the blog post by Joey C.(?!) sickens me. He comes off as one of those goofs who don't respect the creatures that provide him with a living and then bitches when the government tells him he can't over fish for a while. Fuck him.
amen
to that
Hope you have a great
Hope you have a great day.
Here's a video of how a lobster trap works-
http://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2010/04...
Actually I believe the lobster industry is one of the most effective self governing and self sustaining fisheries around with all of the regulations which have come from within the industry itself.
Releasing small lobsters and now releasing the larger ones and egg bearing females.
Placing escape vents on the traps so small lobsters can come and eat and then go in and out of the trap at will (like farming for the future)
using whale safe line which will part if a whale got entangled in the line and the whales can swim free.
the lobster industry is quite healthy due largely to the fact that it has enacted measures to insure it's future in advance of a drop off in landings.
What?! Joey C. rocks. His
What?! Joey C. rocks. His blog is the best thing on the internet. He has a sense of humor, unlike UHub commenters.