Click...Boom! Fish Bombing in SE Asia
Far from the chilly Scottish waters where he first learned to dive, Simon Enderby looks back at his first experience diving the reefs of Southeast Asia. As part of a reef survey expedition, he soon found a nightmare of dead coral reefs due to illegal fish bombing. by Simon Enderby
I first visited SE Asia in 1996 after spending 4 years studying marine zoology at Aberdeen University. At some point during my lectures I had heard of the tropical coral reefs, their incredible bio-diversity and abundance of fish, turtles and playful marine mammals. We were made fully aware of the world’s decimation of whales as well as dolphins but the tropical reefs were portrayed as rich nirvanas where life abounded. So as I dipped below the warm waters of SE Asia for the first time in 1996 I wasn't disappointed in the slightest but blown away by the colours and exuberance of life all around me (a far cry from the frigid waters off Scotland's coasts where I learned to dive!).
Right: Collecting dead fish after a bomb blast (Scubazoo)
I was part of a reef survey expedition identifying and cataloguing coral and fish numbers for the first time in this corner of the world and unfortunately it didn't take long for the wonderful underwater dreamscape to become a living nightmare. Our measuring reels opened out over vast broken "scabs" made up of pulverized and shattered pieces of coral. Scabs is actually an incorrect metaphor as it implies that there is living tissue below that can heal itself in time. Here in these underwater craters and along the "bulldozed" landscape there was no life at all. At first we were stunned and bewildered at these sights but it didn't take long to fully understand their appearance. Over the next 8 months our dives were repeatedly punctuated by reverberating booms, some close enough to physically shake ones body and set our ears ringing and we soon became experts in recognising the initial sharp click of the detonator followed by the deep boom of the explosion a second later. Fish bombing was widespread and out of hand and something needed to be done. We devised an assessment scale for bombed reefs and actively kept a look out for this illegal activity and dived on freshly bombed sites and alongside these illegal fishermen to document their activities. All of these fishermen knew there were acting illegally but drew comfort from the fact that marine policing is a low priority in this part of the world and the chances of their capture are small, however this didn't stop a few outfits feeling more than nervous at our presence at times and threatening to blow us out of the water if we got too close!
By the end of our surveys we found that over 80% of the reefs we had surveyed had suffered damage by fish bombing as well as cyanide fishing, another destructive and illegal fishing technique which destroys all living creatures in its path. We submitted our reports and photographs of illegal fishing vessels to the relevant authorities and hoped that in some way that they would help turn the tide of this incredibly wasteful harvesting of the tropical reefs.
Illegal fish bombing blast destroys the reef (Scubazoo)
Within a couple of years I swapped my calipers, measuring tape and scientific record sheets for an underwater video camera and joined the ranks of Scubazoo's underwater videography team. Over the last decade my passion for exposing these illegal activities and highlighting the fragility and importance of the worlds coral reefs hasn't diminished one iota and through our educational and environmental films, not too mention national and international broadcast programs and documentaries, we have always pushed to tell the whole story. These films have included an anti-fish bombing film in 3 languages for the Malaysian Department of Fisheries, where we interviewed an ex fish bomber and participated in marine police and fisheries department raids on fish bombing suspects, all the way through to a BBC Reef Special which also highlighted the effects of shark finning and the live reef fish trade.
A decimated reef in SE Asia (Scubazoo)
Fish bombing has decreased over the past decade through increased marine policing and strict laws but it has yet to be annihilated from SE Asian waters by any stretch of the imagination. Rising human populations which crowd all along the SE Asian shores demand more and more food each and every day by the cheapest means possible. Government bodies such as the fisheries departments and NGO's such as the Marine Conservation Society, Coral Reef Alliance and WWF strive to implement alternative non-destructive fishing and marine culture practices as well as increase public awareness and education to the long-term effects of such destructive fishing practices. SE Asia does still have some of the worlds best coral reef diving and by visiting them and spending your tourist dollars on them will aid local authorities and coastal communities to place a value on them beyond the price paid for its resident marine life consumption. Hopefully then, in the not too distant future, the "Click...Boom" will be replaced once again by the quiet tranquility of SE Asia's coral reefs.