Enslavement, Not Dominion

A San Leandro pastor has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison for illegally catching thousands of undersized California leopard sharks in San Francisco Bay and selling them to aquarium dealers, authorities said today.

Kevin Thompson, 49, pastor at the Bay Area Family Church and the co-owner of at least one fishing boat, was also ordered Monday to pay $100,000 in restitution for his role in a conspiracy in which five others have been implicated, according to federal prosecutors.

The species is protected by a 1994 state law that prohibits commercial catches of juvenile leopard sharks shorter than 36 inches, in order to let them live in the wild long enough to reproduce and maintain healthy stocks. Selling wildlife with the knowledge that it was captured illegally is a federal crime.

Full Article, SF Chronicle, January 23, 2007


My letter to the SF Chronicle:

Dear Editor,

How interesting that Pastor Kevin Thompson captured thousands of God's creatures and sold them to line his own pockets.

I guess I missed that part of the bible in which God deemed that man should enslave His creations.

And a paltry year 366 days incarceration for criminal conduct that took place over a period of years adds further insult to serious injury.

Terry L. Clark