Though I am personally not a big fan of seafood in general and shrimp in particular, I know that I am in the minority on this one. Most of the world's population loves shrimp. This fact plays out in a bad way in Jamaica.For years, people in the mountains of Jamaica were able to catch giant shrimp in the rivers there. They would catch them in the old fashioned way, which was, of course, slow and difficult. And, just like throwing dynamite into the ocean to catch fish in Asia, someone came up with a quick new way to catch a lot of shrimp quickly for some fast cash. They dump some kind of poison into the river, instantly killing the shrimp (and everything else), which then float to the top. They're easy to catch that way.
The good news is that a lot of local people have joined a movement to stop this crime. They're taking steps to catch perpetrators, educate local judges (so offenders won't be simply released), and stop the poachers from selling their ill gotten gains at the market. Hopefully they'll be able to put a stop to this before the shrimp is gone for good or the environment is permanently damaged or both.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-17-2008 @ 5:37PM
geeky said...
A lot of marine tropical fish (for aquariums) are caught by cyanide. From what I understand, it stuns them long enough to make them easy to catch. And as you would expect, it affects the mortality rate of said fish and results in sick fish even after it gets to the hobbiest. This is why environmental-concious hobbiests try to stick with tank-raised fish when possible. Unfortunately, a lot of these fish are impossible to breed in captivity.
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2-17-2008 @ 7:41PM
Mathi Bear said...
When I first saw this I thought it was some kind of super-spicy shrimp recipe (Jamaican food is not known for being bland). Scotch Bonnets are pretty close to poison for a lot of people.
It's sad how terribly some people treat natural resources.
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