When we think of fishing we think of sticking a little worm on a small hook and throwing it into the water, hoping to catch a five or six inch long sea critter. But when you think about trying to catch sharks, you would most likely assume that you wouldn't use worms as bait. But would you ever think of using dolphins?
Azul, Mundo. A Shark Is Puller on Board a Peruvian Fisherman's Boat after Being Baited with Dolphin Meat. N.d. Photograph. Nationalgeographic.com, Peru.
This is a picture of a shark being pulled onto a fishing boat after being baited with dolphin meat.
In the article "Dolphin Slaughter Fueled by Illegal Shark Trade", it states that over 15,000 dolphins are caught and killed each year, in Peru alone, to use a shark bait. Understandably, shark meat is considered a fine delicacy in Asia, but is it really worth the slaughter of thousands of dolphins?In order to find reasons, undercover reporters set out with some fishermen in Peru to record how the act is performed. The article states "Fishermen track dolphin pods, and when they’re within shooting distance, they will aim a harpoon into the group and fire. Once they’ve hit their target, the fishermen will hoist the dolphin onto their boat and slice off the animals’ skin, sometimes while it is still alive. Other times, the animal is clubbed to death."
Although, the killing of dolphins is said to be illegal in Peru, fishermen called it their "open secret" because the practice was outlawed in 1996, but the fishing industry typically does not enforce the law because Peru is not the only country that is known to practice this. Other fishermen in places like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Tanzania also tend to use dolphin meat as shark bait.
A quote from Hardy Jones (the executive director of Blue Voice) states "Using dolphins as bait? That's like using Albert Einstein as a traffic bump... It's an extraordinary act of cruelty."
If this continues, it could end up as a result of extinction of dolphins. Though it is rare, 15,000- 20,000 dolphins being killed each year in one area alone, puts a major dent in the population of the species.
I chose this article because we just finished up learning about food chains and I thought it was an appropriate example of how an organism eats another organism which causes it to decrease in population. I personally feel that it is wrong to be putting not only the dolphins themselves, but the population in danger. I think that the law that was passed about not being able to harm the animals should be more strongly enforced all over the world.
Oh my gosh! I never knew this before, thank you for writing about it. Honestly this is terrible, using dolphins for shark bait! "An open secret"???!!! Do these people know what they're doing. Like you mentioned, this ties in nicely with food chains, which we just finished up! Thanks for writing.
ReplyDeleteRachel,
ReplyDeletei had no idea that this was an issue! i definetly agree that this is extremely cruel and is not really worth it only to catch shark. It is so terrible that people are still doing this even though it is illegal. the law that was passed should definetly be more enforced. is there any alternative sources of bait that could be used in this process? the ways that the dolphins are killed are so inhumane and cruel. you made a great choice of articles because this definetly ties in with what we are learning about involving the food chain! If dolphins were removed from the enviornment, it would definetly have an effect on the lifestyle of other organisms throughout the rest of the ecosystem. I could tell you were intersted in what you wrote about. Overall great job rachel!