Effect of the human on nature is going to be more devastating day by day. The more people do something to gain money the more environmental degradation increases. Extinction against nature for million years and the biggest problem is, people do not understand that this counter-attack will destroy humanity, not the environment itself. This disastrous actions happening whole over the world. People are seeing it, feeling it and especially they are living it. Unfortunately, there are no certain rules for all universe, and butterfly effect penetrates from west to the east through the human souls while humanity never feels sense its disappearance.
The marine environment is one of the most affected habitats, which has gotten distorted from the magma layer until the highest point of the sky. In this territory, anglers who fish with dynamite gives the biggest devastation to the fishes and other livings inside of the sea. This article will inform you about ‘’ What is fishing with dynamite?’’ and ‘’How it affects the environment?’’. I am pretty sure that hereafter you learn about how harmful is fishing with dynamite, when you go to a restaurant you will ask for ‘’By which method these fishes had caught?’’ to the fishermen before start to eat the delicious white meat!
What Is Dynamite Fishing or Blast Fishing
The marine environment is the world’s largest ecosystem and holds 90 percent of the habitable area on the Earth. It involves fishes, seagrass meadows, mudflats, etc. and provides a perfect habitat for 250 thousand of species. Because of this variety, people get so many advantages from the marine ecosystem so; it also provides economical supplies to humans. Greediness, which is the disease of the age, people, started to get benefits from the sea without thinking about their future. These kinds of selfish acts influenced marine environment so, currently, we have less marine species in the world, our sources decreases each day and our profit gets fewer with every death of the fish.
Imagine a bomb exploding in the middle of the street and almost every people and every alive thing die because of it. Even to think about it something irritative. Nevertheless, when we do not see it, we rather admit it. There are so many ways of fishing such as baiting the fishes, using harpoons, etc. and some fishermen choose fishing with dynamites or with other call blast fishing. We generally do not exactly think how the fishes die when we eat something. Of course, I am not blaming humanity for this, it is our nature to hunt something and feed ourselves to be alive. However, it is a fact that there are some ways to do this without torturing the habitats. To define using dynamites, torturing and murdering are the only words that I can find.
Without believing that ignorance is blessed, without being blind to what happens under the sea, let’s learn how fishermen get blast fishing done and what we can do about this situation. All around the world fishermen applying to bombs to catch more fishes in one shot. All they need is a bottle of water and something explosive such as dynamites. They get the dynamite with some cables on it. Then, make a hole in the dynamite with some kind of metal thing and fits the metal inside of the dynamite. After that, using the cables and other dangerous parts of the dynamite attach this blaster into the bottle. It is hard to see how cruel is this set up and hard to believe how big devastations it causes.
Here is the crucial point; dynamite fishermen do not carry out this to catch starfishes, corals or Caretta Caretta. Their main target is the big fishes. However, when the bomb explodes they kill the entire habitat in this environment even the small fishes, which will be the large fishes like how they want to catch.
To illustrate what happens exactly when the explosion occurs I have to depict it by going deeper. When the dynamite explodes, there is big strength wave blows into the sea. Within a few meters of the explosion, any living individual that is dying. After blasting, the three-dimensional the skeleton of the reef was destroyed by the energy of the explosion. The worst part is, not only some of the fishes die because of this burst but also some of them die due to they became deaf under the pressure of powerful explosion voice. That kind of big sound stuck in their head and blasting gets fish’s life.
Why People Choose Blast Fishing?
Blast fishing started in Tanzania since the 1960s and after government understands the harmful effects of it, it had outlawed since the 1970s. Despite dynamite fishing is illegal, this law does not implement efficiently and it still has been occurring more than 40 countries around the world. If we want to focus on the main reason for it, we should seek for the answer where it started and highly occurs right now. This seeking has brought us to Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam. Contribution of so many factors has made this situation that much destructive but we can count them as follows:
1. Easy Access
It is so easy to reach an explosive material without checking by law, and it is all not under controlled. People do not need to have a license to use such kind of dangerous items and lots of them know how to use them by time-honored practices.
2. Homemade Option
Some people can even make explosive items by themselves since they can find such ingredients in their daily lives and again already learned the conventional methods of making it.
3. Poverty
Another tragic reason is people do not have enough wealth levels in countries like Tanzania, the Philippines, etc. Lack of income and poverty are making people search for quickly gaining more money.
By A Multi-Agency Task Team (MATT) each blast may catch as much as 400 kg of fish, worth up to US$ 1 800.
4. Laws
Inefficient law politics with unsuccessful penalties make people choose it as a method of fishing.
5. Governance
Not last but least corruption and bribery executions of the officers and disrespectful platform for legal fishing.
Why Avoiding from Blast Fishing These Much Important?
According to researches, blast fishing is the biggest threat to the marine environment. The damage of dynamite fishing is not only important for our generation but also much serious for future generations. Every blast fishing is destroying the coral reefs, wealth, and amount of the coral areas. Besides, the coral reef has 4000 species of fishes and other edible invertebrates. Because of the blast, fishing fish habitats finished. Therefore, there will not be fishes to blast in a few years at these areas.
Once blasting occurs and destroyed reef areas it took 5-10 years to recover and this initiates with climate change. Due to coral reefs produce calcium carbonate for the marine environment, reduction of these natural releases will influence the marine environment. It will reflect the other livings in nature, for instance, the seabirds that obtain food from seas. That means the balance of the ecosystem will collapse. As a conclusion, circulation of this natural harms whether killing animals and plants and then kill humanity or kill humanity first then maybe provide a life for the rest of the nature livings.
One more reason why dynamite fishing is critical for a country, people especially environmentalist people do not want to travel to these kind countries. First, they are afraid to go there to swim because anytime an explosion may occur. Also, there are some examples as people lost their lives because of the explosion. So, its effects also countries tourism economies. Moreover, conscious consumers do not prefer to eat from these kinds of a restaurant if they know that they destroyed fishes and another environment. Eventually, as never before people gain anything from ruining nature.
Which Countries Use Dynamite Fishing Method?
Blast fishing is still common in Lebanon, Malesia, Philippines, Tanzania and it occurs over 40 countries in the world. It is not sufficient to have laws about blast fishing because some of the fishermen are ready to pay the penalties and keep using explosives to gain money as long as they are not caught by the government. We can see this is seeking something for staying alive by exterminating them permanently. So, is there anything to do and fight with these issues? Of course, there is.
ACHIEVABLE WAYS TO INHIBIT DESTRUCTIVE BLAST FISHING
#1 Imposing the Laws
There are laws about explosive fishing but most of them are inefficient and they are not enforced. To get a better result from fighting with it, delicate offers needed. Prevent corruption and bribery and inform local people about different ways of fishing, teach them different methods and make them educated and be aware of how critical is this situation. And make all these awareness not only local but also something national, let it spread all over the world.
#2 Forge Sufficient and Effective Preserved Fields
Make employment for protection of these kinds of areas and provide under controlled coastal areas. So, people who will be able to blast fishing hiding from the laws.
#3 Create Alternatives for Fishermen
Governing people to employ in different job areas can be also helpful for fighting with it. If other opportunities can provide to gain money, local people will not have to use such kind of methods to earn money.
For instance, concentrate on tourism and make money of it can be much easier, healthier, and sustainable for citizens and country economies.
#4 Make This Problem International
We should not forget that this problem is not only the countries problem, which has been doing these processes. Nature belongs to all humanity and when the species extinct all humanity will be responsible for this. Therefore, when it comes to something international people, charities or organizations have to work together handle this problem. Environmentalist countries may not export fish from such countries to be a reaction. Or else, organizations can send financial aids to these countries for helping to educate local people and be the voice of this mistake. So, people also may donate money for these kinds of organizations when it becomes worldwide or they can even be the volunteer for such kind of educations. There are so many initiatives, which work international and defend the marine environment against illegal fishing.
Initiatives Against to Illegal Fishing
1. FISH-i AFRICA
It is an organization includes 8 countries; Comoros, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Somalia, and Tanzania that brings together with the local authorities and regional organizations with the international initiatives and try to protect the Western Indian Ocean from illegal fishing. Their purpose is stopping illegal fishing with new approaches to increase knowledge about operating legal activities.
2. SIF Investigative Unit
This organization established in 2007 and since then they have been running investigations into illegal fishing. Their main purpose is detect illegal boats and ships instantly and cut in their illegal activities with government authorities. Most importantly, to make sure that suspicious people get their penalties. This organization shares information with INTERPOL and UNODC and via providing the evidence, convictions assured.
3. Industry Charter
This organization working with ındustry and retail partners to analyze the space that needs improvements. They care about to inform the customer in the matter of the fish they eat has been properly caught, not abuses human and animal rights. They help to indicate fishing trading has been making legally and properly in the areas that they are responsible.
4. African Voice
African Voice purpose is supporting the government to
find efficient formulas against illegal fishing by promoting positions in the international area. Their purpose is getting the other countries attention to be the impact of their attitudes on the trading and importing processes. They make deals with the countries and other organizations to contribute to the sustainability of the marine environment. Since 2007, African Voice has been working with other African states to be the worldwide voice in the global fishery industry.
An initiative volunteer in Tanzania says in an interview ‘’ My goal is to educate the community on how to conserve our ocean resources.
So that the species will exist for future generations.’’ This goal supposes to be all of our main goals to keep the balance of the environment, give a better future for our children and continue to get something from nature. There is nothing in the universe which gives something but do not get anything. When we give something, we have to get in return. If we cannot, we drain away. Just as the extinction of nature when we all get from it but never give.
