Fish vendors, consumers urged to join fight against illegal fishing
L. Pinili
CRMP - Philippines
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is encouraging fish vendors to practice market denial of illegally caught fish by training them in the detection of fish caught through destructive fishing methods.
The agency is also urging consumers to help, by refusing to buy illegally caught fish and choosing fish that was caught by small-scale local fishers using non-destructive fishing gear (not caught by dynamite, cyanide, fine mesh nets, trawls and other methods that damage corals, seagrasses and other habitats) and is big enough to have reproduced at least once.
Only laboratory tests can determine whether a fish was caught with cyanide, but fish caught by blast fishing is easy to spot, with the following telltale signs: damaged fins, bulging and reddish eyes (even if fish is fresh), some scales are removed, blood clots on skin and protruding vent (found on the side of the fish). The internal organs of dynamited fish are also damaged and bloodied.
L. Pinili
CRMP - Philippines
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) is encouraging fish vendors to practice market denial of illegally caught fish by training them in the detection of fish caught through destructive fishing methods.
The agency is also urging consumers to help, by refusing to buy illegally caught fish and choosing fish that was caught by small-scale local fishers using non-destructive fishing gear (not caught by dynamite, cyanide, fine mesh nets, trawls and other methods that damage corals, seagrasses and other habitats) and is big enough to have reproduced at least once.
Only laboratory tests can determine whether a fish was caught with cyanide, but fish caught by blast fishing is easy to spot, with the following telltale signs: damaged fins, bulging and reddish eyes (even if fish is fresh), some scales are removed, blood clots on skin and protruding vent (found on the side of the fish). The internal organs of dynamited fish are also damaged and bloodied.
