A high school science teacher from the central coast of California and a former student are bicycling through America’s heartland to raise awareness and money in an effort to end a fishing practice that threatens the ocean’s top predators.
Mark DiMaggio, 55, of Cambria, Calif. (who teaches in Paso Robles, located in San Luis Obispo County midway between Los Angeles and San Francisco), and Devon Lambert, a 19-year-old conservation biology major at the University of California–Davis, call their campaign to end the slaughter of sharks “Spinning to End Finning.”
The duo’s 1,200-mile trek along a portion of the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail will take them across five states between June 16 and July 9, from Colorado Springs, Colo., to Harrodsburg, Ky.
They passed through Houston last weekend on their way from a stop in Hartsville to another at Alley Spring.
Gaylene Ewing, a biology teacher at Paso Robles High, is coordinating the cyclists’ efforts from the team’s home base. Money raised will be donated to Pretoma (an award-winning Costa Rica-based organization supported by the Monterey Bay Aquarium that works to protect ocean resources and promote sustainable fisheries policies in Costa Rica and Central America), and ARCAE, the Costa Rican Environmental and Educational Network.
DiMaggio and Lambert plan to give public talks along the route.
“We hope to raise $10,000,” DiMaggio said. “Every dollar raised this summer will go straight to shark conservation.”
This is the third consecutive year that DiMaggio has cycled on behalf of sharks, as he works toward a goal of riding across the United States. He plans to complete the ride in 2013.
Shark finning is a practice in which sharks are caught, their fins are cut off, and the living shark is tossed back into the ocean. Victims usually die from the practice.
Shark fins are one of the most expensive seafood products in the world, fetching hundreds of dollars per pound, and a bowl of shark fin soup can cost up to $150. Finning is illegal in the United States, but only four states – California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington – have outlawed the sale of shark fins.
“The growing demand for shark fin soup, considered an elite delicacy in Asia, has caused shark finning to occur in epic proportions globally,” DiMaggio said. “Sharks are the most dominant predator in the ocean and have existed there for hundreds of millions of years. Now, they are at risk of a total global extinction, with an estimated 100 million sharks killed annually for their fins. If they disappear, the ecology of the oceans will be enormously disrupted and could collapse entirely.
“This would be a catastrophe of immense magnitude for people.”
Most illegal finning occurs in the waters off Central America. During the past 15 years, Pretoma has fought finning by raising public awareness and advocating fishing policy reform.
“Some people may wonder why we’re riding so far from the coast,” DiMaggio said. “We think that finning is not only an ocean issue, it’s an Earth issue. While attacks on humans are exceedingly rare, people’s fear of these creatures are intense, often based on works of fiction like ‘Jaws.’’’
Statistics show that more people die each year from bee stings and eating peanuts than from encounters with sharks.
“We plan to deliver a series of slide presentations along the way,” DiMaggio said. “We want to share understanding on the plight of the world’s sharks and the implications on the health of the world ocean, and to raise money to support Pretoma and ARCAE, two Costa Rican nonprofit organizations actively working to end finning off Central America.”
Spinning to End Finning will make stops in these towns and cities between June 16 and July 9:
Colorado Springs, Colo.
Pueblo, Colo.
Ordway, Colo.
Chivington, Colo.
Tribune, Kan.
Scott City, Kan.
Ness City, Kan.
Larned, Kan.
Nickerson, Kan.
North Newton, Kan.
Eureka, Kan.
Chanute, Kan.
Pittsburg, Kan.
Ash Grove, Mo.
Hartville, Mo.
Alley Spring, Mo.
Farmington, Mo.
Chester, Ill.
Carbondale, Ill.
Marion, Ill.
Whitesville, Ken.
Harrodsburg, Ken.
For more information, call Mark DiMaggio at 805-909-2066 or email him at mdimagincambria@yahoo.com.
To learn more about the Spinning to End Finning ride, follow the riders’ progress, or to make a donation, log onto www.endfinning.com.