ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
Voiceless Scream
The foamy, crested waves rolling there creating a roar splashed in the nearby rocks… so dramatic yet lies in its sound a voiceless scream- a whisper showing a ruinous, devastating destruction beyond the depths of the wide ocean.
According to the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), Coral reef fisheries are a vital source of protein for coastal communities throughout the tropics. Coral reefs contain over 4,000 species of fish as well as other edible invertebrates and contribute about one-quarter of the total marine catch in developing countries. Exploitive fishing, which includes overfishing and destructive fishing, occurs on most of the world’s reefs. It yields short-term economic benefits for fishers, but endangers the long-term sustainability of fishing and other reef-dependent industries.
Destructive fishing methods are considered to be one of the largest immediate threats to coral reef ecosystems in some countries. Unlike the disturbance caused by natural disturbances, the damages caused by it practices can be mitigated by adopting alternative methods that can both reduce damage to the coral and result in more sustainable fisheries
Various forms of ravaging ways of fishing include Cyanide Fishing. It is a method used to stun reef fish in order to collect them, which causes damage to the surrounding coral reefs. The purpose of cyanide fishing is mainly to supply live fish for the aquarium trade. The Encyclopedia of Earth says that it is estimated that 4000 or more Filipino fish collectors have used over 1 million kilograms of cyanide on Philippine reefs alone, about 150,000 kg per year.
Fishermen make concentrated cyanide by crushing sodium cyanide (NaCN) pellets into squirt bottles and filling them with seawater. Cyanide fishing destroys thousands of hectares of essential coral reef habitats every year. Although cyanide leaves the structure of the coral intact, it kills the coral polyps. The cyanide stresses the zooxanthellae, the symbiotic algae that live in coral polyps. The result is “bleaching,” the discoloration which can be fatal to the coral. Another destruction caused by these method is when the fishermen then use a hammer to break apart the reef to retrieve the fish when the reef fish escape deeper into coral crevices to avoid the cyanide solution. This results in irreparable damage to the reefs which degrades the reef fish habitat.
Another form is the Blast Fishing. It is a type of destructive fishing that uses dynamite or other homemade explosives to kill or stun reef fish. The practice has been in existence for centuries and is currently conducted on reefs in at least 40 countries or islands around the world. Because the low currents allow easy collection of fish, the damage occurs mainly on leeward shallow reef areas. It damages the coral reef structure by shattering the calcium carbonate skeleton and explosions that are produced can also create large craters, affecting 10-20 square meters of substrate. A study done by McManus et al in Bolinao, Philippines modeled the effect of blast fishing on coral reefs. At best, they found that blast fishing would have no significant effect on the reef, while at worst, it resulted in a net loss of coral cover of 14 percent per year. Their model also predicted that blast fishing could reduce the growth abilities of scleractinian coral on the reef slope by one third.
In addition to these harmful methods of fishing is the Muroami netting which is a dangerous fishing practice that has led to extensive coral reef deterioration in Southeast Asia. Fishermen use a combination of nets that are weighted and decorated with brightly colored plastic strips with pounding devices in order to startle and herd reef fish. The weights are lifted and dropped repeatedly along the reef, breaking live coral along the way. The practice was banned in the Philippines in the 1980s, but continues illegally in some places.
As what the line uttered by John James Audubon goes, "A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children”.
We may have been blinded with greed, we rape the earth and declare ourselves its masters and jingling our dollars cannot hear the voice of intolerable unrest within us. For behind the remaining astounding magnificent beauty of our ocean wildlife lies a catastrophic impact that created such great damage we all are responsible of .The earth too has a voice and someday, it will create a call which we must answer. #
by: Cheivy Soliman
According to the Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL), Coral reef fisheries are a vital source of protein for coastal communities throughout the tropics. Coral reefs contain over 4,000 species of fish as well as other edible invertebrates and contribute about one-quarter of the total marine catch in developing countries. Exploitive fishing, which includes overfishing and destructive fishing, occurs on most of the world’s reefs. It yields short-term economic benefits for fishers, but endangers the long-term sustainability of fishing and other reef-dependent industries.
Destructive fishing methods are considered to be one of the largest immediate threats to coral reef ecosystems in some countries. Unlike the disturbance caused by natural disturbances, the damages caused by it practices can be mitigated by adopting alternative methods that can both reduce damage to the coral and result in more sustainable fisheries
Various forms of ravaging ways of fishing include Cyanide Fishing. It is a method used to stun reef fish in order to collect them, which causes damage to the surrounding coral reefs. The purpose of cyanide fishing is mainly to supply live fish for the aquarium trade. The Encyclopedia of Earth says that it is estimated that 4000 or more Filipino fish collectors have used over 1 million kilograms of cyanide on Philippine reefs alone, about 150,000 kg per year.
Fishermen make concentrated cyanide by crushing sodium cyanide (NaCN) pellets into squirt bottles and filling them with seawater. Cyanide fishing destroys thousands of hectares of essential coral reef habitats every year. Although cyanide leaves the structure of the coral intact, it kills the coral polyps. The cyanide stresses the zooxanthellae, the symbiotic algae that live in coral polyps. The result is “bleaching,” the discoloration which can be fatal to the coral. Another destruction caused by these method is when the fishermen then use a hammer to break apart the reef to retrieve the fish when the reef fish escape deeper into coral crevices to avoid the cyanide solution. This results in irreparable damage to the reefs which degrades the reef fish habitat.
Another form is the Blast Fishing. It is a type of destructive fishing that uses dynamite or other homemade explosives to kill or stun reef fish. The practice has been in existence for centuries and is currently conducted on reefs in at least 40 countries or islands around the world. Because the low currents allow easy collection of fish, the damage occurs mainly on leeward shallow reef areas. It damages the coral reef structure by shattering the calcium carbonate skeleton and explosions that are produced can also create large craters, affecting 10-20 square meters of substrate. A study done by McManus et al in Bolinao, Philippines modeled the effect of blast fishing on coral reefs. At best, they found that blast fishing would have no significant effect on the reef, while at worst, it resulted in a net loss of coral cover of 14 percent per year. Their model also predicted that blast fishing could reduce the growth abilities of scleractinian coral on the reef slope by one third.
In addition to these harmful methods of fishing is the Muroami netting which is a dangerous fishing practice that has led to extensive coral reef deterioration in Southeast Asia. Fishermen use a combination of nets that are weighted and decorated with brightly colored plastic strips with pounding devices in order to startle and herd reef fish. The weights are lifted and dropped repeatedly along the reef, breaking live coral along the way. The practice was banned in the Philippines in the 1980s, but continues illegally in some places.
As what the line uttered by John James Audubon goes, "A true conservationist is a man who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children”.
We may have been blinded with greed, we rape the earth and declare ourselves its masters and jingling our dollars cannot hear the voice of intolerable unrest within us. For behind the remaining astounding magnificent beauty of our ocean wildlife lies a catastrophic impact that created such great damage we all are responsible of .The earth too has a voice and someday, it will create a call which we must answer. #
by: Cheivy Soliman
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