FLORIDA (28 June 2000) -- Rodale Inc, which publishes an American monthly scuba diving magazine, has launched a controversial web page to fight environmentalists who want to stop shark feeding. The web page aims to encourage site visitors to submit a protest letter Rodale's has written to persuade the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to overturn its unanimous decision to draft rules banning fish and shark feeding. Rodale's letter describes the environmental coalition, which includes Reef Relief, the Humane Society and other world-renowned marine conservation organizations, as a "vocal and misinformed minority" and dismisses the issue as "a problem that simply does not exist." Environmentalists have attacked Rodale's position, which they describe as pandering to the magazine's advertisers who are in the business of selling shark feeding trips and other so-called "interactive" diving activities. Leaders of the environmental coalition have called for subscribers to cancel their subscriptions to Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine and boycott the publication. Both sides claim to represent the majority of the diving community, however, neither Rodale's nor the environmental coalition offers any concrete evidence to substantiate their claims. | | Environmentalists, divers and dive center owners have joined together to legally ban shark feeding and other commercial 'interactive' fish feeding activities that harm marine wildlife and may pose a threat to public safety. The US dive industry including PADI, its eco-spin front Project Aware, and DEMA have been fighting to block legal bans on the lucrative business of exploiting sharks for the entertainment of dive tourists. Although Cyber Diver is still studying the arguments on both sides and has yet to take a position on this issue, we would like to help clarify which view represents the majority opinion. As the world's leading global scuba diving publication with a balance of readers from throughout the global diving community, we are in a unique position to accurately assess where divers stand on this issue. To cast your vote, go to Scuba Poll™. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
