BY SHAY CULLEN
(Continued from June 3)
THE HUMAN species, many of whom are ignorant, are destroying the planet that supports us, giving us the air we breathe and the food we eat. The rain forests are being destroyed and global warming due to human activity is killing off the vital life sustaining phytoplanktons that could save us by absorbing CO2. In the documentary, they quote an IMF report that says, “We calculate that this (phytoplankton)is equivalent to the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) captured by 1.70 trillion trees- four Amazon forests’ worth.”
The fishing industry has another huge negative impact on the planet and the oceans- the discarded and lost nets. Likely, millions of tons of nets are floating in the oceans entangling dolphins, whales and thousands of other sea creatures including turtles. They wash up on beaches everywhere. According to Greenpeace, “More than 640,000 tonnes of nets, lines, pots and traps used in commercial fishing are dumped and discarded in the sea every year, the same weight as 55,000 double-decker buses.”
“We hear a lot about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP)…46 percent of it is discarded fishing nets, which are far more dangerous for marine life than our plastic straws,” says environmentalist George Monbiot, a contributor to the documentary. Plastic straws are only 0.003 percent of the garbage in the ocean, We have to do more than ban plastic straws.
Every fishing boat must be held accountable for their missing fishing gear. Another danger to the oceans and all the fish there is long-line fishing. These are long fishing lines that carry hundreds of hooks with bait and they catch everything indiscriminately. Turtles, dolphins, whales and even sea birds get caught. The fish caught are mostly by-catch, mentioned above, and are thrown back dead. The hooks and lines are frequently lost and left to float underwater for years and continue killing and maiming all sea creatures.
The strongest defenders of the so-called “sustainable” fishing industry are some NGOs that promote sustainable fishing. Some claim that the canned tuna we see on supermarket shelves are “dolphin-safe.” The documentary Seaspiricy showed that in most cases the canned tuna was not dolphin-safe. Many of the NGOs get their funds from the commercial fishing industry and cannot be critical of the industry or be unbiased.
I used to think that fish farming was the best answer to the rape of the oceans. But this, too, has many problems. The fish packed in underwater cages develop diseases and antibiotics are used that can affect the consumer. Sea lice is a big problem in fish farms and dangerous chemicals (several are banned) are needed to control it. So the farmed fish are also of low quality due to the feeds or pellets they are fed.
Again, it is greed that causes the overfishing, pollution, the plastic and chemicals poured into our oceans that is destroying our planet. We need greater awareness widespread effective law enforcement on the sea and a moral conscience to stop the abuse and destructive fishing. (www.preda.org)/PN
