Coral article in Newsweek

[Ursula Keuper-Bennett]

Dear CoralHedz,

"Saving the Coral Reefs
Some local villages in Indonesia have renounced bombs and poisons in favor 
of the hook and line

By Ron Moreau
NEWSWEEK INTERNATIONAL Nov. 12 issue —

"For 34 years said Nuhung made a fairly easy living as a fisherman. He 
would take his small boat out off the coastal village of Tumbak, on the 
eastern coast of Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, to the reefs. Looking 
into the clear water, he would see schools of groupers, wrasse and coral 
trout feeding off the protozoans, algae and crustaceans that live among the 
coral. Then he would make use of the fishing techniques handed down from 
his father and his grandfather: he filled empty Coke bottles with 
fertilizers and kerosene and fashioned matches into fuses that could burn 
underwater.
Five or 10 bombs dropped one by one over the side would send plumes of 
water 15 feet into the air and kill fish anywhere within a dozen 
meters.  Nuhung had only to dive down and collect a  boatload of the 
larger, marketable fish and leave the rest for the gulls and sharks...

...'I always knew blast fishing was harmful,'says the 56-year-old.  'hen I 
suddenly realized that by bombing the reefs I was destroying not only my 
own but my children’s future.'

And little further down:

"...Indonesia’s coral reefs are in trouble. Coral mining, industrial 
pollution and toxic agricultural runoff all play a role in their 
destruction, but the fishermen have been the worst offenders. They not only 
bomb fish but also poison them with cyanide, an equally destructive 
practice. The fishermen are also among the biggest potential victims of the
devastation."

The rest is at:

<http://www.msnbc.com/news/652494.asp>



Best wishes,
Ursula
TURTLE TRAX
http://www.turtles.org

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