Rouquette, P. (2022, February 5). Floating carpet of dead fish highlights France’s ‘lax’ attitude to overfishing. France 24. Retrieved February 6, 2022, from https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220205-floating-carpet-of-dead-fish-highlights-france-s-lax-attitude-about-overfishing
On February 2, 2022 hundreds of thousands of fish were tossed back into the ocean by a French fishing ship. The ship claimed it was an accident but according to experts it was very clear that it was no accident. The ship dumped fish that it no longer viewed as profitable. It begs the question why were the fish caught in the first place if they were not viewed as profitable. Large ships fish with massive nets and even if a fish is caught with no value it still gets scooped up. This is why there needs to be laws to change the way fishing is done.
Mandatory onboard cameras must become a law to stop the absolute waste that this French ship demonstrated. It is ridiculous that a ship has the power to waste hundreds of thousands of fish that could have been put to good use in feeding a world that needs it. The way fishing is done now allows for things like this to happen. When the nets are deployed there is no filter on what gets caught in it. Technology must be developed to stop this tragedy from occuring again. In addition to technology the laws must be harsher on acts such as these. The French government has done very little to punish the boat except denounce it’s doings.
I agree that fishermen should not be allowed to catch and waste that many fish. A lot of animals could be saved if laws were put in place to limit the amount and types of animals allowed to be caught. What type of technology could be prevented to monitory fishing ships?
I’m guessing most likely the fishermen mishandle the fish which is unfortunate. If we are going to kill thousands of fish, we at least should not let it go to waste.
I feel like I see a lot of similarities when it comes to fishing with large nets and monoculture farming techniques. Both techniques take enormously large scale approached that are simply unnatural and detrimental at the same time. Going back to our roots as hunters and gatherers and doing things more simply is something I think we need to take into account as humans. How do you feel about fishing with nets as a whole should it be banned or limited?
I definitely agree that something needs to be done regarding laws of fishing. Laws definitely need to be put in place but if the ship belongs to the French, is there anything we can do to enforce them to do something?
I agree that things need to be done to stop overfishing or wasting fish, but I think putting mandatory cameras on every ship that fishes is a little too far, I think that there could be better solutions to this problem.