interesting article

[MantaRey]

a NG article in response to the discovery of lots of dead endangered animals in africa. has to do with commercial fishing.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/08/0811_0308011_tvbycatch.html

 

[KBulla]

I just read the article linked to your post. It's disgusting... How do you get people to realize that their "making a living" is destroying the balance in the oceans and that this imbalance-to-be is going to really start screwing things up???

I'm not a mindless tree-hugger that thinks all fishing fleets should be destroyed, but people need to realize that what they are doing now is affecting and will affect us in our lifetime and continue to do so in the lifetimes of our children and their children. It's sad. Even for just a short while, humans should step away from the need for financial gain and just look at the world around them and what we have done to it. Maybe once the blinders are removed, people will realize that things must stop or change drastically if we want to inhabit a planet that can continue to support life.

 

[norcaldiver]

It's a disgusting article.
Some excerpts:
-fishing boats haul aboard huge nets and 60-mile (97-kilometer) lines teeming with unwanted creatures
-discard up to 10 pounds of sea life for each pound of shrimp they catch
-Trawlers drag weighted nets up to a quarter-mile wide along the ocean floor, bulldozing deep-sea coral reefs and other seafloor ecosystems

Given there are some good solutions listed in the article, we're a long way from the finish line.

Some days thoe boat-ramming, hippy, green peace freaks don't seem so freaky....

 

[MantaRey]

exactly. and there are some solutions or at least some things to help out alittle. but the sad fact is, most animals go overlooked because they are not cute or cuddly. as an example: dolphins get all the protection they need from tuna fishermen because everyone loves dolphins. however when a protection plan for sharks is proposed, most people ask why.

since EVERYTHING is connected via food chain or whatever, everything needs protecting. and alot of the times there are very simple inexpensive solutions to these problems, sometimes I wonder about what people are thinking.

 

[Windwalker]

That the fishing that these people are doing are going to not only put themselves out of business but destroy the global ecosystem as well.. and no government seems to care. What will these fisherman do when they have wiped out whole oceans.