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
2251We Are Up Climate Change Creek, and Look at All These Fishesquire2022-10-31US
2252Confrontational angler has rods and fishing gear seized after refusing to give namearmaghi2022-11-02IR
2253Washington Won't Renew Leases for Puget Sound Fish FarmsAssociated Press2022-11-14US
2254Байкал пополнится рекордным количеством молоди омуля весной следующего годаРыболовство2022-11-14RU
2255Three men ticketed and fined for illegally fishing with netswbrz2022-11-01US
2256Man shocked after catching 'super unheard of' fish in Toronto HarbourCTV News2022-10-31CA
2257Do fish sleep? Most do....kind ofAsbury Park Press2022-11-03US
2258Q&A with Steve Trent on how China can rein in illegal fishingmongabay2022-11-03CN
2259Исследователи случайно открыли необычное поведение у рыб, которые вынашивают мальков во ртуhightech2022-11-14RU
2260Incredible Close-Up Footage Captures Bear Hunting Salmon in CanadaCTV News2022-11-11CA
2261Endangered Devils Hole pupfish is one of the most inbred animals knownberkeley.edu2022-11-04US
2262This dead monstrosity is the heaviest bony fish in the worldboingboing2022-10-19PT
2263A National Park Wants to Use Rat Poison to Get Rid of a Fish They Brought Inthedailybeast2022-10-30US
2264Fish eggs return to Bangladesh’s Halda River following conservation effortsmongabay2022-11-02IN
2265Fish can get addicted to meth after eating human poopboingboing2022-11-02CZ
2266Over 100,000 fishing-related deaths occur annuallyktar2022-11-02TZ
2267Canada fights illegal fishing with Operation North Pacific Guardyahoo2022-11-02CA
2268Canada proposes 62 fish stocks for sustainability protectionyahoo2022-10-31CA
2269Minnesota man's record-breaking fish certified months after catch and releaseFox News2022-11-07US
2270Shrimp and kampachi get a $1.25 million boost from Hawai’i Sea GrantThe Fish Site2022-11-09US
2271Software helps crack the code on seafood traceabilityThe Fish Site2022-11-08US
2272Aquaconnect becomes first Indian aqua startup to earn ISO certificationThe Fish Site2022-11-11IN
2273Fishermen Take Case Against Paying for Monitors to SCOTUSAssociated Press2022-11-10US
22743 Cited for Illegally Netting 133 Game FishAssociated Press2022-11-01US
2275In the Amazon, a Giant Fish Helps Save the RainforestAssociated Press2022-11-03BR

215 216 217 90 of [218 - pages.]