Sea Shepherd in the Galapagos
Since 2000, Sea Shepherd has maintained a strong, positive presence in the Galapagos Islands. From patroling the Marine Reserve stopping illegal fishing activities, to busting shark finners, to educating the local youth, Sea Shepherd carries out its mission of promoting ocean conservation using a wide range of methods and actions.The Galapagos is our line in the sand. If humanity cannot protect such a unique and diverse ecosystem, we will not be able to protect any ecosystem. The Galapagos is a challenge and battlefield for the effort to halt human greed and destruction. These Enchanted Isles are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and this means all of us have a responsibility to help protect them from illegal exploitation.
| Lebanon's struggling fishermen angling for a catch |
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| Friday, 03 July 2009 07:30 | |||
Nowadays, like most fishermen in this southern Lebanese coastal town and elsewhere in the country, he says he is lucky if he reels in one or two kilos on a good day. Over-fishing, pollution and dynamite fishing have all but wiped out marine life in the Mediterranean waters off the 220-kilometer-long (136-mile-long) Lebanese coast, leaving many of the country's estimated 8,000 fishermen destitute. Some 2,000 families live from fishing in Tyre, a city of 100,000 located near the border with Israel, says Khalil Taha, head of the local fishermen's syndicate. Taha partly blames the fishermen themselves for their plight but also consecutive governments, which he said have done nothing to protect the fishing industry or help develop it. Experts say many species, including red mullet, grouper and small barracudas are facing extinction in Lebanon's waters, primarily because of bad fishing practices over the years. "We are destroying our sea, completely and totally," said Imad Saoud, an aquatic scientist at American University of Beirut. "And the problem is that the people who benefit the most from the sea -- the fishermen -- are the people destroying it the most." He said the illegal and destructive practice of dynamite or blast fishing, spear fishing and compressor fishing, has irreversibly damaged the marine ecosystem off the coast of Lebanon. Compressors blow air into crevices or holes at the sea bottom, frightening fish out of their hiding places. Sewage is also dumped at sea along with heavy metals from factories, including copper, zinc and vanadium -- a metallic chemical. In addition, greedy developers have been invading the coastline and paying no heed to the environmental impact. "The state of the Mediterranean in Lebanon is disastrous at all levels and what is coming is even more disastrous," warned Michel Bariche, a marine biologist at American University of Beirut. (From google.com, Lebanon, by Jocelyne Zablit) 
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Mustapha Shaalan yearns for the days when he would go out to sea and haul in 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of fish in the blink of an eye. 
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