logo
Find us on
Twitter Facebook LinkedIn
Skip Navigation Links
logo 9/23/2024 9:28:36 AM     
Aquarium Fish, Hold the Cyanide 
By Stephenie Livingston ID Source: hakaimagazine 8/13/2020

Small like its name, the rural village of Les sits between rugged volcanic mountains and the sea on the northern coast of Bali, Indonesia. Winding two-lane roads flanked by modest housing and open-air markets are busy with motorbikes and rusty pickup trucks. But the ocean is calm. Slipping a worn dive mask over his eyes, Made Partiana freedives beneath the surface with fishing nets in hand. Les fishers like Partiana stay busy. Their village is one of the island’s top suppliers for a multimillion-dollar industry: the saltwater aquarium fish trade.
 

Before picking up nets 20 years ago, Partiana and other fishers in Les caught aquarium fish with the same chemical that movie spies put in suicide capsules: cyanide. Fishers mix it with a solution in a spray bottle and use it to blanket the reef in poison. The neurotoxin stuns fish, rendering them a lethargic, easy catch for several minutes. It’s just long enough to collect shy and highly sought-after fish like the blue tang, the inspiration behind Finding Nemo’s Dory.

The easy harvesting that cyanide provides comes at a deadly price. As much as 90 percent of fish caught with cyanide die before they reach a retailer. And the poison can severely damage coral reefs by destroying coral polyps and other organisms essential to reef health. When fishers are properly trained to use nets correctly so that they do not break or dislodge coral, net catching is demonstrably less harmful to the reef and its inhabitants, says Shannon Switzer Swanson, a marine social ecologist and PhD candidate at Stanford University in California, who works with fishing communities in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.

 
Continue...

News Id SourceStampcountry
1001In fight against illegal fishing, Canada's sea spies struggle with sloppy intelCBC News2021-03-12CA
1002Extreme weather takes a toll on Mumbais fishermenmsn2023-12-11IN
1003Warning issued after dead fish found around parkBBC News2023-12-12UK
1004We could see fish putting their heads out of the water to breatheindependent2023-11-25IE
1005Salmon farming giant withdraws Scots site from scheme after finding lice-infested fishdailyrecord2023-11-26UK
1006Non-profit helps scores of fishermen with free fishing licenseskpic2023-11-27US
10072 unique rainbow smelt populations make Lake Utopia special in CanadaCBC News2023-11-26CA
1008Southaven man fined for $3.5K after illegal fish harvesting, officials sayFOX13 Memphis2023-11-29US
1009Maine man drowns in lake after checking ice thickness for fishingFox News2023-12-11US
1010The lady whos looking to help Libya fulfil its true aquaculture potentialthefishsite2023-12-11LY
1011На Черном море все чаще говорят о лавракеohotniki2023-12-07RU
1012CA Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium turns 100abc7news2023-11-29US
1013Environmental change threatens Japans cormorant fishing legacyjapantimes2023-11-30JP
1014Wyoming teen recognized as one of the state’s youngest Ultimate Anglerslocalnews82023-11-30US
1015Equipment failure kills 100,000 salmon worth $5M at advanced land-based fish farm in N.S.CBC News2023-11-29CA
1016Heres what Minnesotas new lake littering law means for ice fishingbringmethenews2023-12-01US
1017In retirement, Fargo angler is fishing lure craftsmanechopress2023-12-12US
1018Cooke lands $4.7 grant for True North Salmon processing plantthefishsite2023-12-08CA
1019В начале ледового сезонаohotniki2023-12-05RU
1020Cave creature — with transparent fins — found swimming in China.miamiherald2023-12-01CN
1021Study points to concurrent marine heat waves as culprit in Western Alaskaalaskabeacon2023-12-02US
1022Too little, too late: the desperate search for cod babiestheguardian2023-11-27UK
1023Transgender teacher Becky Lee Birtwhistle Hodges chosen for England Ladies angling teamkentonline2018-06-02UK
1024Mediterranean sea fish strengthened amidst Gaza Warjpost2023-11-29EU
1025Lake Volta tilapia farmers await government relief funds following floodingthefishsite2023-12-08GA

214 215 216 40 of [217 - pages.]