Cyanide Fishing: The Most Inhumane Way of Fishing (6 photos)

Cyanide fishing is the most vile, disgusting, and environmentally dangerous industry I've ever heard of.





Liquid death in action.

It's very simple: a diver, usually young and poor, dives to a coastal coral reef and sprays a concentrated sodium cyanide solution over it. Then all he has to do is wait for the sea current to carry the paralyzed fish out of their hiding places.



The net is spread, the trap snapped shut.

Then he packs hundreds of paralyzed animals into bags and nets and hauls them onto the deck, where he sorts them by suitability. Unwanted and commercial fish are thrown overboard, but exotic aquarium specimens are kept for later sale at a profit.





In this case, the fishermen were intercepted right at the sorting stage. But how many more such ships are currently filling their holds with live fish?

However, most of them won't make it to the market: the mortality rate among fish caught with cyanide reaches 75%. And even those that survive will live several years shorter than their healthy counterparts—cyanide poisoning is not without consequences. But the fishermen don't care, because they collect fish by the thousands.



And his scuba gear is replaced by a car compressor on a boat. No, this is not a joke.

And they don't care that they're wreaking death and destruction on coral reefs—the most beautiful and biologically diverse communities in the ocean. After all, after spraying, the cyanide doesn't go away. It spreads in an invisible, suffocating cloud, killing myriad invertebrates and even the corals themselves, the foundation of reefs and all their diversity. And it doesn't end there: the bodies become a source of secondary poisoning for anyone who decides to snack on them.



In 2003, a man-made accident resulted in 100 tons of cyanide being released into the Tisza River in Romania. The effects of this environmental disaster are still being felt there. However, assessing the impact of ocean cyanide poisoning is much more difficult.

And if these were isolated incidents, it wouldn't be so serious. But in 1996, the World Resources Institute conducted an investigation and found that approximately 20% of aquarium fish sold in the Philippines were caught using cyanide. Further research showed that this practice is widespread along the entire coast of South Asia, with the exception of Japan and Korea. This is despite the fact that it is illegal worldwide.



A reef off the coast of Lawson Island, off the Philippines. Completely destroyed by cyanide fishing.

And you know what's most tragic? The people involved in this trade earn mere peanuts: only slightly more than regular fishermen who follow the rules. But even for this small difference in income, there are desperate souls willing to destroy millennia-old ecosystems and poison themselves. And despite everything, this illegal and disgusting business thrives.

Okay, so we've written an article about a rather unpleasant thing. What benefit can the reader gain from this, other than simply informing them about it?

1. If you're buying aquarium fish, make sure they were caught and raised in captivity. Many species are now successfully bred in hatcheries. Demand certification. Ask the seller where the fish is from and how it was caught. Buy only from those who can document this.

2. Spread the word. Most buyers are simply unaware of this issue.

3. If you're planning a diving trip, choose destinations and operators that actively protect reefs. Ecotourism creates an economic alternative to destructive fishing.