Number 8: Ghost Fishing Ghost fishing is when abandoned nets and traps
snatch up arbitrary animals, even if nobody is operating them.
It’s a careless practice that proves that we don’t have to be actively trying to screw
with the seas to really cause some major havoc.
Nets and traps are either lost or abandoned on purpose, and they don’t just sink to
the bottom and become part of the coral.
Instead, drifting nets regularly ensnare fish or even smaller sharks and other marine life
in their deadly folds.
These creatures mostly die of exhaustion trying to escape, or in some cases, suffocate under
the waves.
Since nets are more sophisticated than ever and designed not to rip or break, even larger
creatures have a hell of a time getting themselves untangled from the unforgiving nets.
The sheer amount of gear lost or abandoned at sea is staggering, making up 10 percent
of all marine debris, and it’s also on the move.
Shifting currents and storms sweep nets, fishing pots, and traps all over the world, affecting
many different populations of fish.
This movement also stirs up debris from the seafloor, making certain areas of the ocean
far less hospitable than they were before.
Unfortunately, the solution simply isn’t easy.
Since a lot of this equipment is lost rather than deliberately discarded, it’s very difficult
to crack down on and may just be an accidental way that humans sow problems in our planet’s
waters.
Number 7: Bycatch Bycatch might have a fairly harmless-sounding
name, but this practice is one of the most detrimental activities that fishers regularly
practice in our oceans.
It’s essentially careless fishing, where other marine creatures are swept up in nets
designed to catch specific types of fish.
Depending on where the nets or traps are located, almost any animal in the sea or near it can
get swept up in the melee.
Birds, turtles, and endangered species are not safe from bycatch and are routinely netted
and thrown away.
Not only is bycatch extremely inefficient, but it’s also highly dangerous, especially
to vulnerable creatures snatched up from their environment and then tossed back into the
sea.
Sometimes, even if the fish is in demand, the boat will toss it back due to space issues
or more lucrative fish in the area.
Millions of animals are dumped back into the waves, either dead, stunned, or wounded, and
since bycatch encompasses 40 percent of all catches, it’s a major problem for both the
marine population and the planet.
The biggest culprits of bycatch?
Industrial fishing operations.
Smaller boats rarely have this issue at all, so if you want to be kinder to the seas, support
your local, little fisher.
Number 6: Unregulated Fishing Unregulated, illegal, and unreported fishing
all have serious consequences for our seas, especially in waters that are already overfished.
Since unregulated fishing doesn’t have to conform to any specific environmental standards
or codes, it’s really just like the Wild West out there.
Fishers don’t have to adhere to quotas, so they can fish as much as they want, even
catching endangered or vulnerable creatures.
It’s a significant issue from a sustainability perspective and can even turn entire ecosystems
on their heads!
Unfortunately for marine creatures, unreported, illegal, and unregulated fishing rakes in
some really big bucks and can be lucrative for fishers trying to catch a break.
The industry is estimated at between 10 to 23 billion dollars per year, and the only
real way to crack down on it seriously is to target the money itself.
Fisheries who buy in-demand fish like Chilean seabass need to take a serious look at where
their products are coming from.
Only then can we stem the tide of unregulated fishing and keep our waters safer for the
creatures that call them home.
Number 5: Bottom Trawling Bottom trawling, a method of fishing where
huge nets scrape their way across the ocean floor, is one of the most damaging fishing
practices of all time.
Nothing can escape the gargantuan nets, which are weighed down by tons of ballast to keep
them from drifting upwards.
As you can imagine, bottom trawling nets catch not just the animals that fishers want to
catch but utterly steamrolls the seabed, crushing coral and creatures in its unrelenting wake.
Steamrolling giant nets across the ocean floor poses a considerable threat to endangered
species, many of whom are caught up in the snare.
Another disastrous downside of bottom trawling?
It disturbs underwater sediment, stirring up a stew of debris that can be hazardous
or even toxic to marine life.
It’s no exaggeration to claim that bottom trawling destroys entire ecosystems, as well
as coral formations where smaller, vulnerable animals can hide, leaving them exposed to
predators.
Although we don’t think much about the creatures in the deepest, darkest depths of the sea,
there are plenty of them down there, and they’re all susceptible to the havoc wreaked by bottom
trawling.
It’s a nasty practice that both conservationists and scientists are struggling to crack down
on.
Number 4: Poisoning Poisoning, or cyanide fishing, is all too
common in areas in Southeast Asia, and it’s killing vast populations of marine life.
If you’re wondering, why would anyone want to poison a fish that they’re planning on
eating, you’re certainly not alone!
Many people shudder at the fact that their freshly prepared delicious plate of fish might
be contaminated with cyanide.
Still, this method has been around for years because the sodium cyanide used doesn’t
actually kill the fish… it just stuns them.
Unfortunately, it also devastates any coral reefs that get clogged up with the poison
as well!
Every single year, 65 tons of cyanide is purposely dumped straight into the seas, filling coastal
waters with a toxic slurry of chemicals.
The drugged fish are nabbed and sold to aquariums… and some even end up in restaurants in Hong
Kong and Singapore.
Fortunately for the fishes, cyanide is falling out of fashion.
These days, it’s more humane and eco-friendly to simply use plant-based stunners instead.
Number 3: Muro Ami Muro Ami is a Southeast Asian practice that
literally shreds coral reefs to smithereens in its mission to find fish.
Muro Ami consists of a vast net and some stones or concrete blocks suspended by cranes right
over the surface of the reef.
When it’s fishing time, fishers slam the blocks straight onto the reefs to frighten
the fish, who inevitably flee the coral and go straight into the waiting net.
In many cases, the fish doesn’t really have a choice, as their homes crumble to bits right
around their fins!
The coral itself is totally decimated in the process.
Hundreds of years of coral growth can be totally destroyed in a matter of just a few short
hours, drastically changing the dynamic of the sea for many years to come, if the coral
ever comes back at all.
To make matters worse, Muro Ami is often carried out by children illegally and can be wildly
unregulated so it’s tough to protect either the coral reef or the kiddos from the dangerous
impact of Muro Ami!
Number 2: Blast Fishing Blast Fishing has been around for centuries
and is one of the most destructive fishing practices ever to spew its wrath in the seven
seas.
As the name suggests, blast fishing relies on explosives to kill all of the fish in a
single area, then sweep them up into a net or trap for human consumption.
Shockingly, more and more people are turning to blast fishing as a viable way to catch
their dinner, probably because it’s so incredibly cheap to buy explosives.
Some fishers nab unused explosives from the mining industry legally, but the vast majority
are purchased on the thriving black market.
Blast fishing is a highly detrimental activity, affecting huge patches of the sea floor and
disturbing entire ecosystems.
It can damage delicate coral reefs and most certainly slaughters fish populations that
are far outside its target market!
Number 1: Shark Finning Shark finning is one of the most ghastly fishing
practices on the planet and probably the reason why the great whites have taken such vigorous
vengeance against their human tormenters.
Shark finning involves catching a live shark, cutting its fins off, and hurling the poor
animal straight back into the sea, where it will likely bleed out or suffocate.
It is basically the equivalent of cutting off the arms and legs of a person and kicking
them out on the street.
This cruel practice has one objective; to collect the fins for shark-fin soup, a delicacy
in China and Hong Kong.
If you want to slurp up the remains of tortured sharks, be prepared to spend some big bucks.
Shark-fin soup regularly goes for 100 dollars or more a bowl.
Since demand for this curious food is so high, it’s estimated that tens of millions of
unlucky sharks are stripped of their fins every single year, including some endangered
varieties.
On an economic note, slashing off shark fins for soup is very inefficient, as these icky
trophies take up a lot of space on boats.
It’s far better and much kinder to save the freezer space for other types of fish.
Thanks for watching!
Would you rather be swimming and get trapped in a ghost fishing net or consume a plate
of fish that was caught with cyanide fishing?
Let us know in the comments section below.