Dynamite fishing involves using explosives to kill or stun fish, which destroys coral reef habitats and ecosystems. It is an illegal practice still used in some areas due to issues like poverty, lack of jobs, ignorance of consequences, greed, and lack of discipline. The process involves making fuses from aluminum and ammonium nitrate, filling bottles with these explosives, attaching fuses and throwing the improvised bombs into the water to kill schools of fish, which divers then collect. In addition to dynamite fishing, other destructive illegal fishing methods mentioned are cyanide poisoning of reefs and using pounding devices to smash corals and scare out fish.

1. Dynamite Fishing

2. Dynamite Fishing also known as blast fishing the practice of using explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection this practice is illegal and often ruins and causes destruction to the ecosystem and their habitat (e.g. corals, reefs) this may also cause injuries and accidents for fishermen the practice of dynamite fishing remains widespread in Southeast Asia, parts of Greece and Coastal Africa

3. Why people engage in dynamite fishing Poverty Lack of job opportunities Ignorance Laziness and greed Lack of discipline

4. Poverty Poverty is a major problem in our country today. Because of poverty, people living near the sea or those who make fishing their source of living resort to desperate measures to augment their income. Engaging in dynamite fishing is one of these “desperate measures.”

5. Lack of job opportunities Dynamite fishing is an alarming phenomenon because of its adverse effects on the ecosystem. But some people say they cannot avoid engaging in the practice because there are no other job opportunities for them. Some fisherfolk say it’s better to go to the sea and using dynamites than doing nothing at all.

6. Ignorance Many people are not aware of the consequence of their use of dynamites in fishing. Others do not care. Many think only about the money, forgetting about the effects of what they do to their environment.

7. Laziness and greed There are some people who are educated, who have the money, but are lazy and greedy. They want easy money, so they resort to the use of dynamites. Greed also drives people to use the illegal method so that they will more catch in a short period of time.

8. Lack of discipline Among all these reasons, lack of discipline is the most important. It doesn’t really matter if a person is poor, uneducated, or there is no opportunity for work. What is important is they have discipline. There might be no jobs, but they can still catch fish by using other means.

9. Process

10. Making the fuses The fuses are designed to burn underwater. The aluminum part is a blast cap, which ignites the ammonium nitrate and causes the explosion. These fuses are difficult to obtain and are the most expensive part of these explosive charges. For demonstrational purposes

11. Making the fuses Bottles are filled with the inflammable fertilizer. An ordinary bottle of gin (0.3l) usually does the job, but unfortunately gallon-size containers are often used too. For demonstrational purposes

12. Making the fuses The fuse is wrapped to a matchstick and pushed into a bottle. The water-tight seal is cut out of common flip-flops. For demonstrational purposes

13. Fishing With the charges prepared, the fishers go to sea, where they look out for spots at which schools of fish can be found. When a good spot is located... For demonstrational purposes

14. Fishing The fuse is lit with a matchbox, ready to be thrown to sea... For demonstrational purposes

15. Fishing The “dynamite” is then thrown into the sea. The fuse was thrown over a fishless area

16. Fishing Immediately after the blast, the hookah-diver gets ready to descend. He is equipped with an old-fashioned, leaking mask and his air supply comes from a hose (commonly used for aquarium pumps), which is connected to a compressor on the boat... That guy is just playing the role of a dynamite fisher/diver

17. Fishing ... his weight belt is a rock that is fastened around his waist in an old T-shirt and his fin is made of plywood. That guy is just playing the role of a dynamite fisher/diver

18. Fishing Meanwhile, below the boat, dozens of blasted fish sink to the sea bed... That dead fish was bought from the local market

19. Fishing The diver goes below to collect all the dead fish. Those dead fish were bought from the local market, thrown to the sea for the demo-diver to pick-up

20. Fishing The seascape was wasted... That dead fish was bought from the local market

21. Other illegal methods of fishing

22. Cyanide Fishing Fishermen stun fish by squirting cyanide into the reef areas where there are fish. They then rip apart the reefs with crowbars to capture disoriented fish in the coral where they hide. In addition, cyanide kills coral polyps, algae and other organisms necessary for healthy reefs.

23. Muroami This uses an encircling net with pounding devices consisting of heavy cement blocks. The pounding devices are repeatedly and violently lowered into the area encircled by the net, literally smashing the coral in that area into small fragments in order to scare the fish out of their coral refuges.

24. STOP BLAST FISHING! Blast fishing is one of the more pervasive threats to coral reefs in the world today. Let’s help stop blast fishing in our own small way.

25. Sources http://www.artifishal.com/projects/dynamite-fishing-pics.html http://ischoolmjmontano.wordpress.com/why-do-people-engage-in-dynamite-fishing/ http://www.wwf.org.ph/_userimgs/001-Dynamite_fishing._-dynamide.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org