New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has upset conservationists by catching a shark on a recent fishing trip.
Cuomo posted a picture to Twitter on Sunday from a Long Island fishing trip he took with a group that included his brother, news anchor Chris Cuomo. The photo, captioned “Today’s catch,” showed a photo of a dead thresher shark, a species categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
A spokesperson for Cuomo said, “This is an edible game fish that is indigenous to New York waters and catching them is allowable under both state and federal regulations.”
But with conservationists, legality is not the sticking point.
“The environment is the primary issue on the global agenda,” Lewis Pugh, the United Nations’ patron of the oceans told the Guardian. “So it is extraordinary that a senior political [figure] could be so ignorant about it.” Because of their position at the top of the marine food chain, sharks are vital to the ecosystem of the ocean, Pugh said. Pugh added that it’s “dangerously irresponsible” and “shows a clear lack of judgment” for a public leader to boast about killing a thresher shark on social media.
Cuomo also drew censure on Twitter:
- What Wildfire Smoke Does to the Human Body
- Prince Harry Breaks Royal Convention to Testify in Court
- Teens Are Taking Wegovy for Weight Loss
- Elliot Page: Embracing My Trans Identity Saved Me
- How a Texas High Jumper Has Earned Nearly $1 Million
- What the Debt Ceiling Deal Means for Student Loan Borrowers
- How Past Lives Combines Memoir and Artistry
- 7 Ways to Get Better at Small Talk
