Another Scourge In Our Seas: Blast Fishing

Despite being illegal virtually everywhere, blast fishing has continued to harm local fishing industries and marine ecosystems across the globe. The Guardian details how the practice—which uses explosives like dynamite to kill a mass number of fish for quick returns—is "thriving" in Sri Lanka while simultaneously wreaking havoc on ocean life and the legal fishing industry. "Everything within a 100-meter [328 foot] radius of the blast is destroyed—coral reefs, marine plants and animals," says Wilson Perera, a fisherman from a small village in northern Sri Lanka. He reported seeing a steep decline in fish available to local fishermen who use traditional methods.

The appeal is financial: A dynamite blast can yield up to 2,200 pounds of fish, whereas fishing from a motorboat may bring in around 100 pounds per trip. But the practice is also wasteful, with over half the bounty killed from a dynamite blast left behind as illegal fishers speedily grab what they can before they get caught, according to Augustine Sosai, a retired academic from the University of Jaffna. "Dead fish wash to the shore even two days after the blast," he tells the Guardian, noting endangered species, dolphins, and turtles are often found dead as well after blasting is employed.

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