It happened at sea: bittersweet memories of industrial tuna fishing

in ecology •  6 years ago  (edited)

IMG_2142.JPG

I travelled to French Polynesia to discover the fishers' life, work, and interactions with the megafauna.
It litteraly changed my life. It is hardly describable, but here is a snapshot...


astounding.jpg
unexpected,captivating.JPG
Squids coming up at night, lost in the waves created by the ship.

beautiful.jpg
beauté.JPG
The opah - or salmon of gods, Lampris guttatus.

bloody.jpg
bloody.JPG
A 400kg blue marlin, Makaira nigricans.

compagny.jpg
compagny.jpg
Huge crowds of seabirds are visible in the middle of the sea, they actively dive to feed.

competition.jpg
competition.jpg
My subject: predation by toothed-whales on already-caught tunas. Fishers describe pilot whales as their true nightmare... Really?

dangerous.jpg
dangerous.jpg
The biggest swordfish and marlins are rarely brought back alive but when they are, they need to be rapidly killed: the fishers saw their head off.

human.jpg
incredible.JPG
Strong and happy, fishers I met are doing their extremely hard work with a big smile on their face.
They have the power.

inconvenient.jpg
genant.jpg
Stay tuned, we will talk about sharks and longliners again.

industrial.jpg
industrial.jpg
6000 tons , 25 millions euros a year.

killing.jpg
killing.JPG
The yellowfin tuna is shaking with spams as the fisher "humanly" spike the brain and kill the nerves. In a hurry, he will gut and bleed it.

peaceful.jpg
calm.JPG
It is almost 6pm. 6 hours of fishing left for the day.

sea.jpg
mer.jpg
Parfois, je lève la tête et regarde mon frère Océan avec amitié. Il feint l'infini, mais je sais que lui aussi se heurte partout à ses limites, et voilà pourquoi, sans doute, tout ce tumulte, tout ce fracas.

stuffed.jpg
gavé.JPG
Anti-bird garlands were off.

uninterested.jpg
interet.JPG
Lucky pelagic stringray: no tail-cutting nor smash killing on the boat shell.

waiting.jpg
attente.JPG
Hauling back the line lasts at least 8 hours.

waste.jpg
what a waste.JPGIf only dragonfishes could fly away from fishing boats: thousands are killed in silence -not reported at all.

What is there to add ?
It was wonderful and horrible at the same time.

Authors get paid when people like you upvote their post.
If you enjoyed what you read here, create your account today and start earning FREE STEEM!
Sort Order:  

Congratulations @ch0mper! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You published your First Post
You got a First Vote
You made your First Vote

Click on the badge to view your Board of Honor.
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:

SteemitBoard Ranking update - Steem Power, Followers and Following added
Presentamos el Ranking de SteemitBoard

Support SteemitBoard's project! Vote for its witness and get one more award!