Last year, my ongoing dive into nature books brought me back to the ocean, my favorite place, and a more focused look at the life within it, which includes sea turtles. Carl Safina's book Voyage of the Turtle [amazon associates link] is a particularly illuminating look at human and ocean interaction, and while it was published in 2007, the issues it presents are still relevant and eye-opening today.
While Safina travels the world to look for turtles, he is introduced to people whose living is made by fishing on a large scale with long lines, which is just as it sounds: a long line with thousands of hooks attached. Unfortunately, these hooks catch other creatures besides the tuna, swordfish and others. that the markets demand and will pay for. Turtles, dolphins, and porpoises can be trapped, and even albatrosses will dive down to try to pick up what appears to be a free meal. Over time, new hooks have been developed to lessen the impact on turtles, and streamers erected to frighten away the albatrosses, saving lives.
But while there may be a few simple solutions, which might include eating lower on the fish food chain such as anchovies and sardines, the politics is complicated. Those around the world in poorer areas who have always been fishers may have no other method of supporting their families. Partly for this reason, fishers in the U.S. are adamantly against restrictions of any kind. While traveling with scientists to research turtle populations Safina explores these ongoing problems.
In this imagined scene, both the fish that can be caught at the surface and the ones caught with weighted lines at the bottom of the sea are on the same line, and the two albatrosses fly freely above. Thanks to Carl Safina's book that inspired this research and response.
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