Protected areas not exempt as blast fishing blows up in Sri Lanka 
By Malaka Rodrigo LK Source: mongabay 7/12/2022
Malaka Rodrigo
Credit: Dharshana Jayawardena
Blast fishing is widely practiced in the seas around Sri Lanka, with even marine parks and historical shipwrecks not immune to this illegal practice.
Authorities say blast fishers work as part of a network to evade capture and obtain explosives, including by smuggling them in by sea from India.
The easy availability of explosives transcends conservation issues and raises serious national security concerns, experts say, pointing to the use of explosives in a coordinated terrorist attack on churches during Easter of 2019.
Blast fishing also poses a threat to recreational divers, with a serious injury or even death spelling the end for Sri Lanka’s dive tourism industry that’s already reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing economic crisis.
 

It was a perfect morning in Pigeon Island National Park in eastern Sri Lanka, where a group of tourists in a boat was taking in the rich marine life in the water around them. All of a sudden, there was a loud blast close by. As silence settled once again, they saw the fish that had been flitting nimbly about now either floating dead on the surface or struggling to swim. Through the clear water, they could see more dead fish in the seabed.

 
Continue...

News Id SourceStampcountry
3351Plan would use poison to restore Yellowstone cutthroat troutwyofile2021-09-21US
3352Fisherman goes deep to catch record fishusatoday2021-09-21US
3353How Transparent, 'Vampire' Catfish May Travel Unseen Through the Amazon Rivergizmodo2021-09-20BZ
3354Troubled Watersearthobservatory2021-09-25US
3355Ученые проанализировали уровни концентрации плутония в ЕнисееRG2021-09-28RU
3356Salmon Snagging is Legal In Alaskafishncanada2021-09-26CA
3357A new $350 million Bering Sea fish fight could hinge on a miniature Canadian railroadAlaska Public Media2021-09-05CA
3358Indigenous chiefs in N.B. say Fisheries Department officers ignoring fishing rightsctvnews2021-09-02CA
3359Fangs, beady eyes and slime: Massachusetts angler hauls in rare invasive fish in Cantonwcvb2021-09-01US
3360Naval Officers Left Shocked By Fish With The Body Of A Shark And The Face Of A Pigbrobible2021-09-09US
3361These popular tuna species are no longer endangered, surprising scientistsnationalgeographic2021-09-04US
3362Illegal anglers caught using cruel fishing lines that cause 'lingering death'staffordshire2021-09-07UK
3363Man builds ‘workshop’ to save fish Taiwan News2021-09-14TW
3364Angler equates catching record fish to reeling in ‘a large moving log’usatoday2021-09-10US
3365Angler’s unusual catches include a bizarre, world-record fishusatoday2021-09-09US
3366What's behind all of the dead fish along Lake Erie?wkyc2021-09-07US
3367Why some fish are 'junk,' others are protected. Study points to bias against native speciesbakersfield2021-09-16US
3368Catch of a lifetime as fisherman reels in two fish on one hookabc-72021-09-21US
3369Рыба-вампир использует оригинальный способ перемещения в водеhightech2021-09-21US
3370Fish kill hits Biscayne Bay as high heat, still waters worsen pollution impactsmiamiherald2021-09-07CA
3371Industrial fishing harbor plan raises a stink in Sierra Leonemongabay2021-09-07SL
3372Climate change comes for a favorite summer pastime: fishingnationalgeographic2021-08-27US
3373Spooky spectral fish on show at west Japan aquarium's yokai-themed exhibition until Oct. 31jsonline2021-08-30US
3374Sex that moves mountains: Spawning fish can influence river profilesWSU News2017-10-19US
33755-Year-Old Boy Catches Eel In Chicago River During “Chicago Fishes” Eventchicago.cbslocal2017-10-19US

215 216 217 134 of [218 - pages.]