Destruction of fish and reef life by Dynamite fishing :(
This picture is to show a reef scene after the destructive method of dynamite fishing which is an illegal method but still used quite frequently in certain parts of Philippines and also Malaysia and Indonesia.
The cost of home-made dynamite is very cheap to the local fisherman. After they throw the dynamite, most fish will not die directly or immediately, but will be stunted by the impact and then they just sink to the bottom, dying slowly. The fishermen will then free dives to collect them.
In this picture, the dead fishes are Anchovies, not sure of the species. They are small in size, around 10 cm. Fishermen likes to target shoals or group of fishes in this method of fishing :(
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comments (5)
A Filipino Instructor friend got killed by Dynamite fishing about 2 years ago. He went back to his home town and decided to do some exploration dives on his own early in the morning. The dynamite does not cause big explosion but it may still cause major injuries through the indirect impact as sound travel faster underwater and its impact is more severe. When he was found hours later, his body is still intact, no external physical injuries, its all internal injuries. Very sad situation. Posted 9 years ago
I go to this island, Malapascua very often as it is one of my favourite dive destination in Philippines. And nearly every trip, I will hear dynamite explosion during a dive. It can be very scary.
Dive tourism have made big contributions among local fishermen who gave up fishing to work in the diving industry. I can't imagine how much worse it would have been, if not for dive tourism. Posted 9 years ago