Photo caption contest
Posted by Andrew via Email at 08:40 PM, July 31, 2004
 |
| (C) Greenpeace/Natalie Behring |
The documentation team visited extremely picturesque Laura today. It's about a forty-minute drive from Uliga, where we're docked, and has a stretch of beach that looks right out of a movie. While there, Natalie took this picture of a local spear fisher. The real story is that he's biting his catch to kill it, but I think this photo begs for a more creative caption. I'll send a T-shirt to whoever posts the best one in the comments section - be sure to fill out the email address field (I'll keep it private) so I can get in touch.
Larger photo
The team also interviewed Kolej, a local fisherman who has been around long enough to tell us what is happening to the costal fish stocks. After telling them a now familiar story about how it is getting harder and harder to catch fish, Kolej put the blame on foreign fishing vessels, saying:
"I usually see a lot of foreign fishing vessels close to shore. Whenever I asked what are they are doing, they usually said that they are having engine problems. But, in fact, I saw them loading a lot of reef fish from near the shore".
Later, talking about the purse seiners, who use nets, boats and helicopters to find and encircle fish, he said:
"I think the primary cause of this decline in fish catch is because of these foreign fishing vessels that are fishing in our waters, because that they use nets that catch all kinds of fish even from the smallest to the biggest and they only select the big ones and the rest they discarded in the ocean and having no chance for the fish to grow to big size".
Another problem with the purse seiners that he is talking about is the shear amount of fish they can take from the ocean. Once they get over about 70 meters they are called "super seiners", and some can take 11,000 tonnes of fish per year. By comparison, in 1999 subsistence fishing for the Pacific Islands amounted to a take of only 24,327 tonnes.
So, some fishing is done wastefully and indiscriminately. Plus, our technology lets us take fish out of the ocean much faster than they can reproduce. And on top of that, there are the pirate fishers - who effectively operate outside the law. All that leads to a pretty dismal picture, but only if we let it.
"I think the possible solution now is for the governments of this countries in the Pacific Islands to work together to be firm in protecting the resources of these islands," concludes Kolej. "
If no action is taken, the livelihood that we depend on will one day be depleted and the future generations may never see it real life."
Unfortunately, due to the proliferation of spam, we
have had to close the posting of comments to articles older than 1 month.
A Marshallese volunteer tries out a new indegenous mini aqua lung that simulates how a fish breathes !!.
Visit Laura in Majuro Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands and have a first hand experience of this new patented Aqua Lung called "FISH".
Fish Sustainably Now or Kiss Your Fish Goodbye
While Unagi's brothers work hard to catch enough to feed the family, he eats several fish when they are not looking in the hope of later beating them at the local body building contest.
Artificial breathing--last hope for our oceans?
try our new, bun-friendly fish sandwich.
Unless you are eating your seafood right out of the water, it's hard to know if it is environmentally friendly.
http://www.seafoodchoices.com/seasense
"Skewered by overfishing!"
"A mere morsel for our survival".
I also posted "Skewered by overfishing" - sort of a no-brainer
and forgot to log in.
Tragic story for the Islanders!
Fish so fresh its still moving.You dont get that in supermarkets.
CPR is something we need to learn so we can try to revive our dying fish population because of foreign fishing vessels.
...and even mouth to mouth wouldn't bring the poor fish back to life.
IT,S NOT EASY CATCHING LUNCH
Dang! I can never remember... was it Mask, Chopstick, Fish, Tequilla or Chopstick, Fish, Mask, Tequilla...
Here gimme a kiss! Urgh. Idth Godth Muh Tung!
Bastard,hope you're not a relative to the fugu!!!
Sorry,forgot to log in. It was me who posted the last comment,and it's not easy to be funny...
The Hunting Prowess:Doing it my own way makes it more natural.
Fishing: Giving my catch the "kiss of death"!
"Biting The Head That Feeds You!"
"Why use a toothbrush and toothpaste when you can stick a fish on the end of a stick?"
-- A PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE MARSHALL ISLANDS ORAL HYGIENE ADVISORY COMMITTEE --
[I know!! I'm a sad individual who spends far too long on Greenpeace forums and blogs]
Another method of fishing, launched!
Totally alienated from western style of fishing!
Snipping off the head of a truant fish that has eluded the local fishing net:
The local fisherman seems keen to punish the fish by biting off its head on the rare occasion when he has managed a haul.
"Can I bite off the head of these poor little fishies ?"No I don't care if it's an endangered fish , dolphin or not." "Wha wha did you say I am a little busy right now with my friend here....
Here we have an example of a genetically-modified man. As you can see he grows fish out of his mouth so that he is never hungry. Surely a wonderful scientific advance. But unfortunately the previously unknown side-effects of this genetic modification include growing a spear out of his hand, and a mask over his face. This man unfortunately also has no legs and must live in water. Unfortunately also, the man is ignorant of the wonderful improvements to his life that having fish constantly growing out of his mouth brings, and tries constantly to remove said fish. Once a fish is removed, however, new fish grow, so the man has a permanently dissatisfied expression on his face.
You have to kiss a lot of fish before you find your mermaid...
Ha got you! You're the one who voted for Bush
Can you hear me now?! You're lunch!
This being the third time Carl had pierced his tounge with his spear Dr. Fish decided to free him, out of water this time, in front of his friends to possibly embarass Carl into being more careful in the future.
"So, can you see my keys down there or what?"
Scientists from Uliga have found omega 3 isn't on good for your heart, but also a great toothbrush and paste in one!
Bob wasn't one for sharing his lunch
Filming on Nemo 2 halted due to stars dissapearance.
Kissing his friend goodbye, Pedro prepares to return Pepito to the ocean before his jealous friends arrive.
What is this?? maybe if I take a small bite Ill find out
http://spe.fotologs.net/?u=mare_magnum&i=2003/06/26/1056621008.jpg&c=f
«Is not permited to boil cork inside this natural bolier».
----
Seems that the human kind is trying to force what is natural.
More in:
http://sp3.fotologs.net/?u=mare_magnum&i=2004/05/27/1085656007.jpg&c=f
A FREE T-shirt is worth a few tries!
"HELP!! MY TONGUE! MY TONGUE!"
"Dumb Kangwi, who used to speak, before he bit off more than he could chew!"
"Hand-to-mouth existence"
"Fresh Kiss of the Day"
-not catch
Fishing Marshallese-style !
What's the matter? Fish got your tongue?
My comment for a caption "Reality Bites!"
I have a few...
"Unable to contain his hunger any longer, Miguel starts on his delicious lunch while his friends search the ocean for packets of tartar sauce."
"It may look like Juan killed the fish because he was hungry or for a prize... but the truth is, he killed the fish because of what it said about his sister."
"It may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but from that day forth, Phillip always had to carry a pack of Clorets with him."
"Finally, someone is giving Jared from Subway a run for his money with this "One Raw Fishhead A Day" diet."
Winner!
Really tough call on this one. A wide range of opinions among the crew. But we can't have half a dozen winners so I'm going to have to go with (drum roll please).......
"Here gimme a kiss! Urgh. Idth Godth Muh Tung!" - Nick
Ahhh, ha ha ha ha ha ha, he spelled "tongue" "tung". Ha ha ha! I can't resist it.
Congratulations Nick, I'll send you and email to find out where to mail the t-shirt.
-- Andrew (on board the Rainbow Warrior)
