Sunday, March 20, 2011

Fish protections protect fish

Big surprise, a law that stops trawling in Venezuela protects fish. Local fishermen are seeing better catches after 2 years of ocean protection, including more fish, bigger fish, and fish closer to shore.

Trawling was mostly catching shrimp for export, while about 70% of Venezuela's fish catch comes from the happy fishermen that have been seeking the trawling ban for decades. So it sounds like a good deal for Venezuela, right?

President Hugo Chavez thinks so, seems like he's good for oceans on this issue, better than some US politicians like...say...John Kerry who say they want to help fishermen but plan to do so through the failed policy of overfishing. Who's your friend, ocean lovers?



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