I read the article "How Dangerous Is It to Use Cyanide to Catch Fish?" by Roddy Sheer and Doug Moss. In the article I learned that Cyanide Fishing originated in the late 1960s as a way to get live fish to aquariums in Europe and North America in a cheap and easy manner. But what's the point in it being cheap and easy if it's killing the fish? "Internet chat boards are rife with comments about cyanide-caught aquarium fish developing cancer within a year of being purchased." Is it really worth it if we are drastically shortening these fishes lives? I think not.
But not only is it the fish who are effected by the Cyanide, the choral reefs are being destroyed. It is estimated that more than a staggering 1,000,000 kilograms of cyanide have been released onto reefs around the Philippines alone. Also one would think that eating these fish that were caught using cyanide would also be toxic to ourselves. Although no cases of cyanide poisoning through eating fish have been reported its best to be cautious as there is no proof that it couldn't be harmful to ourselves.
I was shocked to even hear that this fishing form existed but now i don't find it all that unbelievable. When compared to the other ways in which we are destroying animal habitats that we've learned about in class such as deforestation and melting ice caps it fits in.
(The image courtesy of envirohonper7.wikispaces.com)
Also it reminds me of another fishing style I remember hearing about. I was in Maine at a summer camp on a lake and fisherman were using lead sinkers to fish with and all sorts of birds and fishing were being killed. Eventually lead sinkers were outlawed in the area however and the population of the lake has retuned to its original heights. We can only hope that this growing trend is nipped in the bud before it causes extreme damage to the environment. Cyanide Fishing is yet another unneeded thorn in the side of the Green Movement.
Cyanide fishing, the danger of the sea. To me this is a very dangerous and controversial way of collecting fish. As a fisherman I enjoy catching fish in lakes and pond, but quite frankly I like the pole better. To me Cyanide fishing is a horrible way destroy our beautiful coral reefs and oceans so that aquarium fish companies can easily and cheaply collect fish. It can be scary sometimes how far companies will go to make a profit even if this means destroying the earth. What is even more frightening is that if this were to become popular the levels of Cyanide could become so high that thousands of fish could die or may even become toxic for humans to go into the ocean and seas. If we can all agree that this is a bad way to collect fish what is the next step? In my opinion all uses of Cyanide in the oceans and water should be banned internationally to prevent Cyanide fishing and chemicals into the water. If this could become true this would be a great step to help save our planet.
ReplyDeleteI find this new fishing method quite shocking, just as you stated in your post. Cyanide fishing seems dangerous, inhumane, and unnecessary. The fact that people would put chemicals in the water just to capture fish startles me, but it also makes me wonder, how far would people go to making a living in terms of hurting the environment? Deforestation, unnecessary hunting, and high pollution rates are all mainly for human profit, and pouring poison into the water could prove just as bad as these. What, ultimately, will be the worst thing people do the fragile earth for an industry? Only time will tell, but hopefully it will not have to. Without the introduction of other unnecessary practices such as this, we could greatly improve the earth; the human race would just need to stop focusing on themselves only. This method of fishing seems to be far less humane and sustainable than normal fishing. As you said in the post, the fish may get cancer, and therefore die much more slowly. Finally, do you think this fishing technique really yields substantially more fish than traditional methods? Is it worth it at all?
ReplyDeleteI found this to be very shocking. I would of never of thought that there was such a thing as cyanide "fishing". Not only is this effecting the fish that if they capture alive will die in about a year, it is also affecting the other sea animals in the water along with the fish. Also on top of all of this it is poisoning the coral reefs themselves. I think that somebody needs to put an end to this before it goes out of hand. If I could talk to one of these "fishermen" I would ask them if the ocean and all of it's species worth killing just to make a quick buck? What if humans consume one of these toxic items? To conclude I think that we need to consider this as a threat and need to be very cautious with this subject before this gets way out of hand.
ReplyDeleteI was completely unaware that this existed! I can't believe that this is actually legal! I'm glad you picked this topic because many people are ignorant to the way we are actually affecting our aquatic environments. Myself being interested in marine biology, find this practice exceptionally insane and unbelievable. I don't understand why people would want to take the "cheap" and "easy" way into getting fish into aquariums when the ecosystems they live in are more important than human amusement. If fish are really needed or are in high demand go the extra mile to make sure you not only protect their health but our health as well. No one, as you pointed out, has any idea if this will affect human health. In some way I believe people do this, but I can't believe it's still legal considering we have outlawed similar things. I don't think we should wait for it to have an affect on our health before we do something about it! In addition I enjoyed your personal connection to this article because it made it more current. I agree with you about how it is a very big issue and needs some attention. I can't stress enough how important it is that you chose this article. It was informative and needed the attention. Good work!
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ReplyDeleteMatt,
I was shocked to hear about this form of cruelty when I started reading your piece. I can't even fathom the amount of wrong-ness that this creates. Spraying fish with poison?! Plus, cyanide is not only fatal to fish, it is very dangerous to humans as well! The best statement of yours, in my opinion, is when you said: "We can only hope that this growing trend is nipped in the bud before it causes extreme damage to the environment." Although your tone and info is very well put, the only thing I would recommend for you in the future is to look over your minor punctuation errors like not capitalizing "I", splitting run-ons with a comma, et cetera. Overall, really excellent work, especially because you are raising awareness of something terrible that most people are not conscious of.
-Travis