Printer-friendly version
Nothing but the Truth!
By Will Power
April 7, 2009 San Diego)--A tragic event happened on a Southern California fishing boat this week. A deckhand, hoping to amuse some children on an “Educational” Fishing Trip, stuck a live fish in his mouth. The fish logged in the man’s windpipe and he was suffocated.
But it is the fish, not the people in danger. Overfishing and pollution have caused some species of fish to disappear, while others can no longer legally be caught.
There has been no ocean fishing for salmon of any type in California the last couple of years. The disastrous fish kill on the Klamath river drove salmon numbers so low that there is no longer a legal fishing season for salmon in the ocean.
Even pelagic species like yellowfin tuna are in danger, as Japanese and Mexican purse seiners and long liners decimate tuna, sharks, swordfish, and dorado populations.
International fisheries Agreements are regularly broken by outlaw fishermen who change flags and ship registrations more often than their underwear. The pirates fish on the borders of international boundaries, then run for the open ocean when they are challenged, which isn’t often. Many navies simply cannot catch the pirate fishermen, who have faster boats and better radar.
Many nations like Japan and China have subsidized their fisheries and encouraged them in aggressive and often illegal fishing. But modern nations like Canada and the US still can’t reach agreement on the scope and scale of the salmon fishery.
We know less about the oceans than we do about the moon. Tinkering with mother nature in the past has caused many species to disappear. More careful management and international cooperation is needed if we don’t choke on our own Dead fish. Once a species likeATlantic cod is gone, it is gone forever.
Will Power is a retired teacher who holds a masters degree in creative writing.
Recent comments