Continued from page 1A Tragedy:
Some eight years ago, with only a week to go before our contracts ended, I was informed that a friend of mine, who I met in Seattle during training, was one of the "lost at sea" victims in a sinking of a factory trawler called the "Aleutian Enterprise". It turns out that this boat, fishing nearby, was attempting to haul in one final large net full of fish in calm seas. Unfortunately, the discard chute, of which discarded fish pieces are thrown overboard during processing, was jammed open. The vessel apparently was already close to being overloaded, and when the last net was being brought on board, the weight of this caused the vessel to list. This discard chute was then submerged, causing water to rush in to the vessel.
Within a half hour, the boat was sunk with ten hands lost, including my friend who it is said, attempted to help in saving the vessel and went below deck (see included article below) There are constant occurrences like this that remind one to never forget where you are, and what's going on around you in one of the most dangerous professions in America and at least this incident served to beef up boating safety regulations and caused the instituting of mandatory safety precautions, such as radio beacons that allow detection of a vessel in distress.
Notes on Environmental ImpactAs I said, the seas of the world seem to have no worries in telling those who will listen, of what is its mood. An angry sea is easy to see as is a peaceful one. Often times, however, she speaks in a more subtle voice. Some years, we may come across fish, stacked fifty feet thick or several miles on end, comprising hundreds of millions of pounds of fish, all schooling during mating, while other years, there seems to nary be a fish to be found. I am sure that overfishing has a profound effect on the populations of these fish, but no one knows exactly what that effect is. The sea reveals its need for help and concern for the environment also by making no effort to hide the pollution contained in its arms. Even hundreds of miles out to sea, tons of garbage can be seen floating atop the water from both sea-going and land based sources. Discarded excess netting often continues to "catch" fish for years and years like a ghostly mariner and even when reaching a far off shore, it often finds its way around the neck of a hapless bird , whale, or seal, causing slow, agonizing starvation. I used to do some independent research on a certain fish and what they were using in their diet and one type, called a lancet fish, often found its way to my table. In absolutely every fish I examined, I found plastic bag fragments as the major stomach content. Enough of this debris will serve to block the digestive tract and, in turn, cause starvation.
More Information and Conclusion
Detailed information on the state of the United States Fisheries can be obtained by writing or visiting your nearest National Marine Fisheries Service Center. The regional headquarters for the East And Western Fisheries are in Kingston, R.I. and Seattle, Wa. respectively. Since I only supply data from a small representative of the fishing fleet, I am unable to furnish the exact details of catch biomass. To give you some idea though, the boats I am on carry approximately 1 million pounds of fish, and these boats can be filled in as little as 24 hours. Often, however, the boats return only partially filled, and there are dozens of vessels fishing at any one time. Surely, the ocean seems limitless in its expanse, but only recently have we had the ability with our population numbers to so profoundly effect the environment with chemicals, plastics and other refuse. With proper management and a caring ear, the oceans will have a variety of stories to tell, for one of our greatest fears should be a wounded ocean that can no longer say anything at all.
To contact Fox Keri About Fox Keri
| Top | Back |
 NetPets® Main Page |  The Fish Center |