Fish bombing is an escalating threat to coral reefs, and to the people who depend on them for their livelihoods. It destroys fish habitats among reefs already threatened by overfishing and climate change.In Sabah, action is urgently needed: “Blast fishing in the past years has badly affected the marine ecosystems,” said Terence Lim of Sabah and a founding member of Stop Fish Bombing!. “If this is left unchecked we will not only lose the ability to produce wild fish stock but it will dramatically affect the tourism industry which now generates the second highest revenue for Sabah.”Stop Fish Bombing! has collaborated with Californian tech company ShotSpotter to adapt their gunshot location technology to detect fish bombs underwater.“Fortunately, we now have the technology to detect and locate fish bombs as they happen, and publish this information on tablets and phones for access by everyone,” said Woodman. The use of this acoustic sensing and location technology, combined with existing and emerging surveillance and monitoring systems, offers the possibility of building an effective global detection system and thus an opportunity to suppress or even eradicate fish bombing within a short time.

This article relates to environmental science because coral reefs need to be protected and there is so many that target them. Change is possible through soft measures such as community development, and hard measures such as enforcement.Getting communities involved in enforcement has proved effective in maximizing reach and minimizing cost. It also provides high-quality data to allow people in marine protected areas affected by blast fishing to objectively assess the issues and ways to solve them. Failing to address fish bombing ultimately exacerbates poverty, and turns an environmental problem into a security risk, because food supplies dwindle, and a disempowered rural population with expertise in homemade explosives pose a risk to future security. Although i think it is a great step the coral reef situation it is all about time. I think time is key to see major change in these communities. The harm that is being done is significant meaning it take times for the organism to bounce back and recuperate their original state, health and balance wise.