Re: Snapper fished to extinction....(cough)

From: benlizross (benlizro_at_ihug.co.nz)
Date: 09/24/04 

Date: Fri, 24 Sep 2004 19:41:02 +1200

Qiwi wrote:
>
> There seems to be a problem on this forum with quoting anything out of
> a book more than 20 years old....
> Well here is something hot off the press, Kerry Howe's 'The Quest for
> Origins' published in 2003.....
> According to the blurb on the back cover; "This book is a thoughtful
> and devastating critique of [such] new learning...." i.e. that the
> Polynesians may have originated in the Americas or from some other
> ancient civilisation....
> The trouble is the book is, what is the word I am looking for, ah
> thats right, CRAP!!!!
> This is Howe telling us of the wanton destruction of the environment
> by the Maori following their arrival in Aotearoa....
> "....probably 40% of the original forest cover was deliberately or
> accidentally destroyed....Some 20 species of bird were hunted to
> extinction, notably the Moa. It is now thought that these giant
> flightless birds, numbering some 160,000 at the time of human arrival,
> were butchered in very large numbers, sometimes in what appears to be
> an orgy of killing and were wiped out within 60 to 120 years of first
> human settlement......
> There is evidence that at certain points there were socio-economic
> crises as a result of collapses in protein supplies - with the rapid
> extinction of the Moa, the depletion of seal and sea-lion populations
> due to overhunting, and the dwindling of the snapper populations due
> to overfishing. Snapper were fished to extinction in the South Island
> and the average size of snapper everywhere declined markedly.
> It has been estimated that some 1200 tonnes of snapper were taken
> annually from the North Island - more than today's commercial catch."
> pp 180, 181.
>
> One thing about Kerry Howe... he is full of it.
> p.s. A word of advice to anyone with a serious interest in Polynesian
> origins.... dont waste your hard earned money on this piece of
> garbage....

So tell us, then, Qiwi, what should we read? In particular, what should
we read that would explain to us why Howe (or whoever he got this from)
is wrong?

Ross Clark

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Snapper fished to extinction....(cough)
    ... > extinction, notably the Moa. ... Snapper were fished to extinction in the South Island ... > One thing about Kerry Howe... ... So tell us, then, Qiwi, what should we read? ...
    (sci.anthropology)
  • Re: Snapper fished to extinction....(cough)
    ... > extinction, notably the Moa. ... the depletion of seal and sea-lion populations ... Snapper were fished to extinction in the South Island ... > One thing about Kerry Howe... ...
    (sci.archaeology)
  • Re: Snapper fished to extinction....(cough)
    ... > extinction, notably the Moa. ... the depletion of seal and sea-lion populations ... Snapper were fished to extinction in the South Island ... > One thing about Kerry Howe... ...
    (sci.anthropology)
  • Snapper fished to extinction....(cough)
    ... Origins' published in 2003..... ... extinction of the Moa, the depletion of seal and sea-lion populations ... Snapper were fished to extinction in the South Island ...
    (sci.anthropology)
  • Snapper fished to extinction....(cough)
    ... Origins' published in 2003..... ... extinction of the Moa, the depletion of seal and sea-lion populations ... Snapper were fished to extinction in the South Island ...
    (sci.archaeology)
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