A group of divers had the shock of their lives when they witnessed hundreds of decomposing sharks and other sea creatures trapped in a floating net in the Cayman Islands this week.
WHAT KILLED THE SHARKS AT THE CAYMAN ISLANDS?
In an interview with The Independent, Dominick Martin-Mayes, a diving instructor and the founder of the horrible sight, said that he found the decomposing sharks when he was out fishing with a group of friends. "At first we thought it was a log, but as we got closer, we could see it was a net with floats. I jumped in the water first and was shocked at what I saw. It took my breath away." He said.
Martin-Mayes narrated how he and a friend dived down and tried to cut the net to set those who are still alive free. "We did what we could to free some of the trapped life, but most of it was dead." He said. Despite their efforts, Martin-Mayes and his friends were unable to rescue everything that was trapped in the net as they feared they would be trapped too.
The net was eventually rediscovered, according to a report by the Cayman Compass, and was discovered by fisherman Charles Ebank who was able to tow the net out of the ocean.
WHAT ARE THE HARMFUL EFFECT OF NET FISHING?
Large-scale fishing had been a big contributor to the decline of ocean wildlife since it harvests a big number of fishes in a short period of time and done over and over again that fishes are not yet able to replenish their population. According to the World Wildlife Fund, overfishing is connected to the phenomenon known as bycatch or the capture of unwanted sea creature while fishing for a different species.
In a report done by World Animal Protection, at least 700,000 tons of fishnets are abandoned in the ocean every year. This poses a great threat to all species living underwater, including turtles, even whales, and as what was observed in the Cayman Islands, sharks. The report also states that 45% of marine species that are tagged as "Critically Endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature are killed my abandoned fishnets.
Along with plastic straws and other trash in the ocean, abandoned fishnets are rampant. However, unlike plastic straws, fishnets are specifically designed to capture and kill. If not collected from the sea, fishnets will continue to trap and kill unfortunate animals for years -- even decades -- since the material that these nets are made of is meant to exist for a long time.
There are a lot of reasons why fishnets end up in the ocean aside from conscious abandonment: it could have been detached from its ship, get stuck in reefs, and bad weather. But regardless of the reason, people are starting to demand change in the way fisheries are done all over the world. Environmental activists started the #BanDeathNets campaign to stop the usage of these harmful fishing gear.
IS THERE AN ALTERNATIVE TO NET FISHING?
Scientists are developing ways to make fishing sustainable. But the most common alternative solution, for now, is developing biodegradable nets to replace the usual nets being used and may not cause harm when accidentally left in the ocean. For a long-term goal, people are demanding a ban in commercial fishing and instead to encourage fishermen to catch just the right amount for the community.
