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A Critique of the Controversy

Dear Source:
My name is Afiya Felix. I am a current junior at the St. Croix Educational Complex High School. Recently in my Environmental Science class, we have come to the topic of gill netting. We have had two presentations about the effects of gill netting in our environment. Ms. Gibbs asked us to prepare a critique about how we feel about the issue. I hope that my comments and concerns help benefit the current issue of gill netting here in the Virgin Islands.
What is gill-netting? Does it benefit the environment? Many think gill-netting is an efficient way to fish. Some say that it is decreasing the amounts of fish that we don't normally eat. I do not like the practice of gill-netting. Gill-netting has a history here.
Gill-netting is a type of fishing using nets designed to trap fish as they attempt to swim through the net openings. These nets come in different sizes that can be used to target a specific species. When the fish swim through, they realize that their bodies are too big to pass through and by trying, but unable to back up, they become stuck by their gills. These nets can be anchored or they can be pulled behind boats that drop them.
The disaster that made fishing with gillnets a new thing, was Hurricane Hugo in 1989. This hurricane destroyed the fishermen's fish traps. The fish traps were more environmentally friendly. The fisher men had to find other means of fishing. A fishing company from the states came here to sell the nets, which previously became illegal in Florida and this caused them to adjust to gill-net fishing. They noticed that they were getting more fish as a result of using the nets. In 2006, a ban on gillnet fishing was signed by then, Governor Turnbull. This bill was to take effect on January 1, 2007. It was delayed until March. This gave the fishermen time to petition the new governor, DeJongh, to get the ban lifted. The ban even provided funding for the fishermen to replace the nets; the funding was not enough to change their minds with another environmental friendly fishing method.
The gill nets are responsible for many deaths by "by-catch". By-catch refers to the fish that are caught unintentionally. The animals that are common "by-catch" are endangered sea turtles, sharks, whales, diving birds, and fish that the fishermen don't want. Another effect of gill net fishing is the breaking of coral reefs. If the net happens to tangle up in sea grass or even a piece of coral, the fisher man just pulls the net harder pulling up anything that was tangled in the net.
Coral reefs are very important to our environment. The fishermen think they are only going to get fish but they don't realize that these fish aren't the only things being caught in the nets. Coral reefs that were once crowded with many fish such as parrotfish, snapper, grouper and many other marine organisms, and were attractions to visiting swimmers, divers, snorkelers, and waders, are becoming scarce. Why would those people come back and there are no more of the beautiful fish for them to see?
If you are going to make a living as a fisherman, you should think about the environment also. You can't just go out catching all the fish. The gill net, unlike the fish trap, doesn't give you the option to throw back "by-catch". With the gillnet, what ever is in the net is going to end up on the ship. This is harmful to the environment because the 'bycatch' can be endangered species and they don't stand a chance if they are caught in the net.
If David Olsen had some consideration for the fish and not the fishermen's 'sad stories', he would've probably still been in office. He was only considered about helping the fishermen do their jobs. He was basing his judgment on stories rather than scientific facts. The fish were decreasing in size and he couldn't see that. As a director, he should've made plans to investigate the issue, rather than denying it. I was disappointed when I was reading the articles about his actions. They are always telling us that they want to help the future of the Virgin Islands. Some of them don't realize that their wrong decisions can harm the future of young Virgin Islanders. I believe he could've done better.
People need to realize that these nets are not healthy for the environment. We can be losing a large amount of our vital way to attract tourists. It is important that the ban is put into act or the fish will soon be all gone. We need to act now!

Afiya Felix
St. Croix

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