Grist Comment Feed en http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-08-end-of-the-line-movie-fishing/ Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:18:04 -0700 http://www.grist.org/article/2009-06-08-end-of-the-line-movie-fishing/1 In the late 1970's, I tried commercial swordfishing, right after the ban was lifted which was implemented because of mercury contamination. Mostly, we caught juveniles. But, we also caught many many 10 foot hammerhead sharks, which we would pull up almost dead and then we would just cut them lose. It was such a waste of life. There are floating fishing factories out to sea with 5000 people working on them, pulling huge nets and catching every living thing behind them. I would LOVE to see a documentary on one of those ships. However, I doubt anyone could get aboard to film such a sight. The fish stocks have been in decline for decades. As soon as one variety would start to disappear, commercial fisherman would re-outfit their vessels to go after another species. I saw it happening even back then. Now, because of the warming temperatures of the ocean, jellyfish are becoming more prolific. And, they too are becoming a species of desirability for food. Maybe we need more birth control to just slow down the human race until the planet can feed everyone without causing it harm. While many people criticized China for their mandatory "one child" law, I thought they were being wise. It's radical, I know. But a starving planet is worse. What also concerns me is the "plastic sea" of debris floating in the ocean. Humans can just be clueless about the planet's ability to absorb all the waste that people produce. Nice article.

]]> In the late 1970's, I tried commercial swordfishing, right after the ban was lifted which was implemented because of mercury contamination. Mostly, we caught juveniles. But, we also caught many many 10 foot hammerhead sharks, which we would pull up almost dead and then we would just cut them lose. It was such a waste of life. There are floating fishing factories out to sea with 5000 people working on them, pulling huge nets and catching every living thing behind them. I would LOVE to see a documentary on one of those ships. However, I doubt anyone could get aboard to film such a sight. The fish stocks have been in decline for decades. As soon as one variety would start to disappear, commercial fisherman would re-outfit their vessels to go after another species. I saw it happening even back then. Now, because of the warming temperatures of the ocean, jellyfish are becoming more prolific. And, they too are becoming a species of desirability for food. Maybe we need more birth control to just slow down the human race until the planet can feed everyone without causing it harm. While many people criticized China for their mandatory "one child" law, I thought they were being wise. It's radical, I know. But a starving planet is worse. What also concerns me is the "plastic sea" of debris floating in the ocean. Humans can just be clueless about the planet's ability to absorb all the waste that people produce. Nice article.

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