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Post by waterbabe on Mar 24, 2008 7:56:01 GMT
Oooh I have just watched an article about guys fishing for fish tank supplies in Indonesia and Malaysia, places like that.
I had heard of divers using cyanide for fishing, but didn't know it was to stun the fish so they can be caught for fish tanks, and one squirt of this potassium cyanide can kill the coral for kilometres around it! I saw footage of this diver ferreting around a completely barren reef, that looked like scattered dead twigs. Every so often, he would see a lone fish, squirt it, and catch it. A sorry sight.
Anyway, the good bit, is that that was taken in the past. The same guy now has stopped using cyanide, and the reef has recovered big time!! He is still catching fish (hmm not so happy about that, but I guess he needs to make some kind of income to eat) but he uses a different technique (just simple nets) which allows him to leave the young fish behind so they can grow. And apparently his catch has tripled, and the reef is still full of fish!
So what's the message? Well, 90% of fishing in these areas is still done using the cyanide, so if people can spread this message to them, then maybe they'll stop using the cyanide and we will all be better off, even the fish.
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Post by Dive Bunnie on Mar 25, 2008 17:40:49 GMT
I know... it is such a shame that whole reefs have been devastated as a result of these practices.
Good news to hear that just by stopping that method, they can actually restore the reef, and as a result actually improve their catch. Not that I am condoning the collection of fish for marine tanks.
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Post by aquababy on Apr 5, 2008 5:08:07 GMT
Had no idea it could recover so quickly! There's a bit of hope after all?
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