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Environmental Action: Lobby Stinapa To Get Snorkel Fishing Banned!
Bonaire Talk: Environmental Action: Archives 2008-2009: Lobby Stinapa To Get Snorkel Fishing Banned!
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Pauline Kayes (BonaireTalker - Post #100) on Friday, July 25, 2008 - 11:26 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have been snorkeling on Bonaire for over 15 years now and in the past 6 months, it is clear the fish populations are declining rapidly. I used to see so many eels, rock hinds, graysbys, etc. and now there are fewer and fewer.

While nutrient wastewater pollution may partly to blame, there is another culprit: snorkel-fishing where two guys snorkel and use a baited line to pull up one fish after another. On several occasions, I have seen their catch, which is quite substantial: rock hinds, eels, graysbys, even parrotfish. Although spear-fishing is banned on the island, snorkel-fishing is not, even though it is just as damaging.

For all of us who have noticed similar fish declines, it is time to contact STINAPA to convince them to lobby the government to ban snorkel-fishing before it is too late for Bonaire's reefs to recover.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Bonaire Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1595) on Friday, July 25, 2008 - 4:28 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Pauline..I completely agree with your sentiments. I would also like to see this banned; but there is a major difference between spearfishing and snorkel fishing. The former was done by tourists on the island many years ago. The latter is to my knowlege only done by the Bonaireans. I suspect because of that, it would be much harder to ban the practice.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ron Gould*** (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1673) on Friday, July 25, 2008 - 5:33 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Bonaireans should be allowed to fish the Island, and I have met people that fishing is their only income. I have seen visitors fishing, and not eating/selling what they catch. If a ban should happen it should not affect the locals... Ron

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Antony Bond (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #383) on Saturday, July 26, 2008 - 5:08 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I agree with you Ron.

For many locals, fishing is an essential part of life on Bonaire and without it, they would have no income at all.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Bonaire Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1599) on Saturday, July 26, 2008 - 6:22 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Lets get back on track. This isn't about fishing from shore with a rod/reel or from a boat with a line in the water. None of which should be banned nor is it the subject of this thread.

It is about the unsporting practice of snorkel fishing, ie, in the water with mask & fins, seeing where the fish is & then dropping a hook with bait on it directly in front of the fish to hook it.

This practice is extremely unsporting, like the old practice of spearfishing with a scuba tank on your back. It really takes no ability to do and takes about as much skill as walking into the fish store and asking what's on sale.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Pauline Kayes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #101) on Saturday, July 26, 2008 - 8:15 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Vince is exactly correct. In addition, it is not like someone fishing from shore with a reel and line and catching one or two fish. The guys work together and haul in 20-25 fish a snorkel! Yesterday I snorkeled in front of the Plaza hotel where fishing has been banned and there is a huge difference in the fish population there compared to Windsock, Batchelor's Beach, etc. because the latter sites are where snorkel fishers operate.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seb (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3421) on Saturday, July 26, 2008 - 8:29 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Unless no fishing zones are established and monitored, so that there is a nursery for fish to grow up, numbers of fish and their size will continue to plummet. I remember when I would see many lobsters on a dive, now one hardly sees any, and those are usually well hidden. Snorkel fishing is simply not fair to the fish, nor to the people who come to the island to see fish. Fish are the ONLY wild food that is commercially collected and eaten; this is done on a massive scale, and there are many casualties of these industrial fishing methods that are thrown away. Establishing no take zones provides more fish for everybody, fishermen and divers alike.

(Message edited by seb on July 26, 2008)

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By elaine sculley (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #342) on Saturday, July 26, 2008 - 9:36 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

wow
this doesn't sound too good. the locals should remember that they'll be out of luck and fish if this continues and then they'll have no means of supporting themselves and family.
es

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Windsurfer (BonaireTalker - Post #23) on Saturday, July 26, 2008 - 1:14 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Well Elaine, maybe you should tell the locals that! Maybe you should educate them! From your words I understand that they are pretty dumb.
Please go and explain to 'em that "they should remember that they'll be out of luck and fish if this continues".
Pfff, give me a break please..
Regards from a local.


 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jan Klos - ( Hamlet Bonaire ) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #696) on Saturday, July 26, 2008 - 4:17 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I have seen several people snorkle and fish. Once the fish is caught it was brought in, cleaned and cooked. I have not seen anyone using this procedure to sell them. Of course I am not on Bonaire 24/7, notr am I watching all the wholesalers or restaurants.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Pietri Hausmann (BonaireTalker - Post #42) on Sunday, July 27, 2008 - 8:56 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

maybe us locals will not run out of fish so quickly if we limit the consumption of fresh fish to ourselves and ban the consumption of fish by island visitors .. i think it looks like this demand is stressing our supply ....think about it ..

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin W. Williams (Bella Vista Estates) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #586) on Sunday, July 27, 2008 - 9:47 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Seriously, the pressure should be on quotas, not technique. In theory, snorkel fishing is ideal: the fisherman chooses exactly what fish he wants, and is able to avoid juveniles, endangered species, or use any other criteria that helps the reef stay healthy. He's able to target his locations precisely.

The problems come from overfishing, not from the technique. Snorkelfishing is something to be monitored, but it is in many ways better than nets, which simply trawl up everything over a certain size, endangered or not, edible or not.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By elaine sculley (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #348) on Sunday, July 27, 2008 - 12:59 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

windsurfer
i did not mean to belittle people of bonaire. have been going to island since 1985 and love both island and its people very much. don't presume u know me and don't judge me.
thank u es

pietri
that sounds good.

kevin
i like ur thinking

es

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Antony Bond (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #385) on Sunday, July 27, 2008 - 4:39 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kevin has it spot on.

Someone earlier said that it was not a "Sporting technique". Well exactly, it is not a sport at all, it is fishing for food.

The chartered boats that charge $500+ a day for pleasure fishing while consuming endless diesel are more harmful.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Pauline Kayes (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #102) on Sunday, July 27, 2008 - 6:14 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kevin, yes, establishing quotas would be excellent but who would be enforcing on all the snorkel-fishers?

And you presume that snorkel-fishers know what is endangered, what are juveniles, etc. Perhaps everyone who fishes must get a license, and the requirement for a license is a short course in environmentally-responsible fishing. This course should probably also be required of anyone who comes as a tourist to fish as well as those making a living from fishing. More knowledge is always a good thing.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin W. Williams (Bella Vista Estates) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #588) on Sunday, July 27, 2008 - 10:31 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I think that fisherman licensing is a necessity, and would be the way to regulate things like this. I never lived anyplace that you could fish without a license, and it really surprised me that it was possible here.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Bonaire Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1601) on Monday, July 28, 2008 - 5:50 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kevin: I've never heard of a license being required for salt water fishing. Exactly where are you thinking of?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6682) on Monday, July 28, 2008 - 8:14 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Ahh, Vince times are a changing many states are starting to require fishing licenses even for salt water. Regardless of the licenses there are still strict quotas, types and size requirements on anything caught in salt water. Daily quotas are fairly easy to enforce.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Tribs, at home. (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6523) on Monday, July 28, 2008 - 10:32 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I'm with Kevin, never heard of a place that does not require, even for salt water. Our entire group had to buy licenses for Florida saltwater fishing and that was a decade or more ago. Does this mean all people follow the law? Obviously not.

I don't think a short course will work. If a course needs to be imposed it should be fairly in depth on species ID and habitat. Look at how many divers touch even though they are all told in their classes not to do so, as well as why they shouldn't touch anything. Some even think that it is acceptable in certain locations. The education needs to be complete for it to work. Because regardless of what localities deem acceptable, you touch - it dies. You over fish, the stock dies off. You take too many females of breeding size, you kill off the stock. The education must be good and complete for it to work.

Personally, I think that if educated properly (and regulated - how to do that???) the snorkel fishing would pose the least damage to the reef.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Bonaire Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1602) on Monday, July 28, 2008 - 11:22 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Well I was a big proponent of the no fish zones which have now been implemented. I also agree 100 per cent that fish regulations as to quantity, species & size would be prudent for their government to implement. And the worse practice (as Kevin points out)is when they throw the nets into the sea as I've seen them do down south & haul everything in.

And as I'm sure we all agree Bonaire's sealife is extremely important to the tourism trade which is extremely valuable to the island's economy. Makes me think about "sting ray city" on Grand Cayman.
For the amount of tourist dollars that those rays bring in, it certainly makes them worth 100 times their weight in gold to GC's economy.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry C Ligon (BonaireTalker - Post #12) on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 - 8:51 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sustainable Tourism and Knowledgeable Choices When We Order Fish
by Jerry Ligon
It has become obvious to me that fish species that we eat in our favorite
Caribbean restaurants has a lot to do with the populations of fish on our local coral reefs
and that only through education can the visiting tourist learn to lessen his impact on
local fish resources. No one visiting our Caribbean Sea wants to be known as the Bozo
Tourist, the one that knows very little about the ecology of the coral reefs and its
amazing creature populations. That type of tourist has more negative impact on our
local ecosystems than almost any other factor, mainly because it is driven by economics,
which has a bad reputation as a guardian of our dealings with our planet. Put the two
negatives together, the Bozo Tourist and economics and catastrophe is not far behind.
Let me explain: On the Yorktown Clipper, a small, 110 passenger explorer-type
cruise ship, we visited the chain of islands known as St Vincent and the
Grenadines. On one particular island, Bequia, I noted the many fish traps , each marked
on the surface by empty Clorox bottles. Local fishermen owned particular traps and
their duties included emptying them periodically of the catch of fish and selling it to the
local restaurants, as well as re-baiting the traps when needed. They usually used animal
hides as a long-lasting bait in the traps. But because of this, algae built up in great
masses inside the traps and the surrounding populations of algae eating species were
particularly vulnerable to getting caught, such as members of Surgeonfish, Parrotfish,
Damselfish families, which naturally eat algae. I could easily compare the diversity of
fish on this island with other Caribbean islands that we visited. In summary, the reefs
were in awful shape, and obvious overpopulation of algae was having crucial negative
effects. The water clarity was awful, the green color of healthy coral was replaced by
the browns of dead coral that had been overtaken by an abundance of algae.
Fish traps on this island were legal, and that was fifteen years ago, and I
wonder if it is still legal. The problem with the Bozo Tourist is that on the menus in the
restaurants, fish were mislabeled as “greenfish”, or “bluefish” rather than stoplight
parrotfish or blue tang. Asking your waiter would not improve your education on
locally available fish that occurred on menus. They would not know exactly what the
fish species was except it is very good tasting. This meant that the gullible tourist would
initially try an item on the menu, and find it delicious, making it easier next time when a
choice had to be made. The Bozo Tourist was hooked, if you can pardon by pun. The
tourist pushes the market for fish served in the restaurants and this keeps the fishermen
happy as well as the local economy, yet I questioned whether the reefs were happy? I do
know that the algae bloom showed that the algae were quite happy with this
arrangement.
After that summer in 1994 as a naturalist on board the Yorktown Clipper, I
visited Bonaire as part of our scheduled itinerary. It was at the end of my contract with
the cruise ship. Perhaps because of the obvious differences that I saw here on the reefs
compared with the islands that we visited, I decided to move here. If I hadn't seen how
bad reef conditions could be that are under human control, and the drastic differences
with Bonaire's reefs, I might not have ever put two and two together, and I might have
gone back to my beloved Colorado.
So what fish do I order in my favorite Bonaire restaurants? I obviously will
only order fish species that I am 100% positive is from a sustainable population. I will
not visit a restaurant in which I do not know and trust the waiter, because I'm going to
ask him questions about the “Catch of the Day”. For example, what kind of grouper.
Red grouper is hand-lined at depths off the west side of Klein that exceed 500 feet. I see
the small fishing boats anchored out there, and I have seen them bring their catch to the
restaurants and the Red Groupers are easy to recognize as are Red Snapper, also caught
at depths- their eyes have popped out of the eye sockets because the fishermen bring
them up so rapidly from great depths that pressure equalizations are not maintained and
the expanding air bladder swells into the mouth and pops the eyes. Quite gory, but direct evidence
as to where they were caught.
I will not ever eat “grouper” even if it is the only species of fish on the menu
that particular day, because there is a good chance that some fisherman has spear-fished,
or snorkel-fished a local shallow water Tiger Grouper or one of the other larger grouper
species that we see and census when we do fish surveys for the organization REEF. If
the economic conditions force fishermen to fish illegally, then they go after the largest
fish. The fishermen do not know it but they are targeting the largest fish of the groupers
which invariably are males. When grouper spawning full moons come around during
the winter months, there is a preponderance of smaller, females and not enough males
for sustainable populations. The illegal fishing can take place at night and no one is the
wiser, except the fish surveyor. If we use the data that we fish surveyors have been
contributing to REEF for the past fifteen years, and if we look at the survey results of the
Expert fish surveyor, you will notice that the sighting frequency of Tiger Grouper has
steadily gone down:
Expert Sighting Freq %
37 Tiger Grouper 63.8 1993 to 1998
58 Tiger Grouper 58.5 1998 to 2003
84 Tiger Grouper 40.7 2003 to 2008
I have chosen 3 time periods, the first in which the Tiger Grouper was listed as
the 37th most common fish on Bonaire surveys was from 1993 to 1998.
The second time period, when the Tiger Grouper slipped from 37th overall to
58th place was from 1998 to 2003, and the third time period , from 2003 to 2008, and
you see that Tiger Grouper has now dropped to 84th place. Also the Expert Sighting
Frequency for Tiger Grouper started out at 63.8 % and currently is only 40% as sighted
on surveys turned in by the Expert fish surveyors. Something is going on here. We are
losing our Tiger Groupers and illegal fishing by spear-gun, or the legal method (but not sustainable)
of snorkel-fishing may be one reason, and it may be driven by not being
choosy enough when ordering fish from our local restaurants.
If I were to go to Ramon, Marine Park Manager, as a concerned diver and tell
him that I think that the number of Tiger Groupers are much lower now that when I fist
started diving on Bonaire, fifteen years ago, the wizened and knowledgeable Ramon,
would be courteous and thank me, but not put to much faith in my remark because it is
Subjective Data. However, if I approach Ramon with data that I have just explained, he
would take immediate notice, because such data is Objective Data, and based on
scientific protocol.
What species on Bonaire would I order? Wahoo and Dorado are caught in the
deep blue and rarely if ever are seen over the reef, so any fish that is caught by line,
except snorkel-fishing is a sustainable fishery, because there is no selection process
where only the biggest fish of a species are caught.
But what about your conscience and your fish choice in the U. S.? Not much
good going on .
A link to an article about the mislabeling of fish when purchased at fish
markets in the eastern U. S. should also be read by the savvy tourist and can be found at
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040715081351.htm.
I have put together some links so you can learn what species can be ordered
and which should leave you feeling good about your fish consumption:
http://www.environmentaldefense.org/page.cfm?tagID=1521&source=ggad&gclid=CM
CN-6fx3ZECFQWAHgodQ1QqXA
http://www.blueocean.org.
Which is put together by Carl Safina, author of the most inspiring book that I
have read since living on Bonaire for fifteen years, called Song for a Blue Ocean. He
actually was a speaker on one of Bonaire's Dive Festivals.
http://www.mbayaq.org/cr/seafoodwatch.asp Which is a good one from Monterey Bay
Aquarium and lists your choices depending on the region of the U.S.. that you live in

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Timmmy - Bonairian Bottom Dweller (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5819) on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 - 9:07 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

1

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Timmmy - Bonairian Bottom Dweller (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #5820) on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 - 9:29 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great info Jerry - thanks

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Bonaire Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1623) on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - 6:05 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Wahoo & Dorado it is when on Bonaire. Thanks Jerry for your well written & interesting article.

I also like to avoid grouper. I remember once a large one following us around on a dive in the Caymans. He seemed so friendly that it reminded me of my pet dog the way he kept following us throughout the dive.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Cecil (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #6710) on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - 7:44 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Great info, Jerry. I more I learn about fishing always leads me to the same conclusion, we need to stop it for 50 years, then see.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By YucatanPat (Sand$ A3) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #211) on Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - 2:49 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Jerry, you don't post often but when you do people listen - thanks for the information.

Please add swordfish to the list of fish to avoid, they rarely catch any over 100lbs these days and are almost all cough by longline fishing, the worst type ever invented IMHO, indiscriminate.

The first fish trap I ever saw was in Barbados several years ago now, did not even know what it was and tried to free the fish until the divemaster waved me off...naive back then I guess. The thing that bothers me to this day is that it had no marker buoy on the surface?

By the way, I am a fisherman, NJ does not require a salt water license yet, and I would be more then willing to pay for one here and on Bonaire, that is the day they take the fees and use them exclusively for ocean research and conservation as they do now with hunting license fees in this state. Laugh, but NJ has one of the largest man made reef systems in the world, about 25 square miles of structure and they add more each year. Army tanks, subway cars, boats, reef balls just like at Sand Dollar made by NJ prison inmates, and concrete rubble. I can provide links but on home computer if anyone is interested.

Patrick

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Yo MO - Meet me at the 3Day in Atlanta (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #4071) on Thursday, August 7, 2008 - 12:41 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Please Pat - I think that would be interesting

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #104) on Thursday, August 7, 2008 - 12:52 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I saw a young man snorkel-fishing in front of BelMar last week. He must have had 20-30 little grunts, graysbys, yellow-tail snapper, etc. trailing behind him on his stringer. In Florida or the Bahamas, such a fisherman would have another name - "shark bait."

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Seb (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3449) on Thursday, August 7, 2008 - 1:26 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks for sharing that Jerry.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Vince DePietro (Bellevue Bonaire Condo ) (Extraordinary BonaireTalker - Post #1628) on Thursday, August 7, 2008 - 4:45 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hmmm Too bad no sharks on Bonaire's lee side.:-(
It might deter such activity.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John Gnann (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #105) on Friday, August 8, 2008 - 11:27 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

To add my subjective observations to Jerry's objective data, I recently did 36 dives in Bonaire over 2 weeks, ranging from Red Slave to Karpata. I saw exactly one (1) tiger grouper, and it was an immature fish. The only big fish I saw (other than large parrot fish and tarpon) were a few cubera and dog snappers, no large grouper at all.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By eddie blizzard (BonaireTalker - Post #19) on Friday, June 12, 2009 - 6:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Updates? Is it still legal?

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bart Snelder (BonaireTalker - Post #47) on Friday, June 12, 2009 - 7:19 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

New legislation will be implemented. Snorkel fishing is one of the practices the government plans to ban. www.bonairegov.an has the proposals published. eilandsbesluit onderwaterpark. It is in Dutch, if you want an English translation, try their contact link. I would imagine Marion from bonhata could send you a translation in English. Regardless, at least on Bonaire, groupers and many other species have not been declining just from fishing practises, but also from pollution and disease, to be clear; not necessarily connected. For example moray eels numbers have been declining dramatically, just recently. Trust me that is not a species specifically targeted by snorkler-fishermen, or any other fisherman for that matter.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By eddie blizzard (BonaireTalker - Post #23) on Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 3:46 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Thanks Bart and a big thank you for letting us know that snorkel fishing and fish decline are
"not necessarily connected".

: )

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jerry C Ligon (BonaireTalker - Post #30) on Saturday, June 13, 2009 - 10:17 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Sorry Bart, but I disagree with your comment. How can you say, without any documentation that
"Regardless, at least on Bonaire, groupers and many other species have not been declining just from fishing practises, but also from pollution and disease, to be clear; not necessarily connected. For example moray eels numbers have been declining dramatically, just recently." SO, where is your evidence that other fish, besides morays, are declining because of pollution and diseases??, and not from fishing. Haven't you noticed the results of the moray deaths, last summer and fall? That was documented to be due to a bacteria called Vibrio. No other fish here in Bonaire were documented to be declining due to pollution and disease. They are declining because they are being physically taken off the reef by fishermen who did not learn from their cultural heritage to leave a few fish for next time. They learn to catch as many as they can pull in, keep some for their own use, and sell the rest to the restaurants, or fish markets.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bart Snelder (BonaireTalker - Post #48) on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - 4:03 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Jerry, You just confirmed my point.
All I am saying is that the fish decline might not just be from (over) and/or snorkelfishing, and certainly not with the speed of decline we have all noticed. Having had discussions with so many on the topic, it seems clear to many that I have spoken with at least, that for example the storms of the last decade have wiped out enormous sections of shallow coral reef, vital habitat for juveniles, and just about as vital for you and me :-). Pollution is just another reason for decline, as is disease, as well as (over)fishing. You know as well as I do that no fish caught on Bonaire is exported, which in the past was very much the case, çause at the time there was no market to sell their entire catch, so they brought them to curacao. This was confirmed by the very fishermen, on the Caribbean marine park management conference, hosted by our own Marine Park. Considering the havoc on fish stocks, here and worldwide, what used to be sustainable is no longer so. The same five groupers caught in the past, easily replaced by the species then, would now mean further decline, again not necessarily just because of that catch, but also because there is no environment left for replenishment.
By the way, I do have documentation and so do you. Fibropapilloma killing turtles as a big one, comes to mind. Let's have a beer and swap info :-)
Bartman

 


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