Friday, May 11, 2007

Fishing seen from space


A stunning new view of fishing proves the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words. If you've ever wondered whether fishing can disrupt ocean ecosystems, look at fishing seen from space.

Rows of Chines shrimp trawlers near the mouth of the Yangtse River in the photo above present the modern face of fishing. This is very different from the over-romanticized image of fishing that we're often sold--tough weather-beaten men going out to sea in small boats, heroically battling the elements, and bringing back a bushel of food.

This is not to villainize fishing or fishermen, it simply tells a story of what fishing can be like in the modern world.

Image: Remote observation of mudtrails from fishing trawlers, Kyle S. Van Houtan & Daniel Pauly

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

so i'm assuming the greenish area are untouched vegetation and after trawling they leave nothing left? wow...

Mark Powell said...

Brown plumes are mud stirred up by trawlers disturbing the bottom. I think the greener areas are not totally undisturbed but just areas that were recently untrawled and where mud has settled.

Click link at the bottom of the original post for the authors' interpretations of the images.