For those who are always asking for proof...

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Here is a video with some footage of dynamite fishing and even a picture or two of cyanide fishing (1:12). Just thought since every time the subject comes up and literature is not enough to convince people it happens that some images might work. I was at a LFS today and overheard someone talking about how cyanide fishing was a myth...

"Recent studies have shown that the combination of cyanide use and stress of post capture handling results in mortality of up to 75% of the organisms within less than 48 hours of capture. With such high mortality numbers, a greater number of fish must be caught in order to supplement post catch death.

Colourful, particularly eccentric, and therefore rare coral fish are packed into plastic bags; up to two thirds of these fish die during transport. They are mostly sold to aquariums in the US, Europe and Asia. In the 1990s 80% of the western trade in coral fishes alone came from the island of Palawan in the Philippines. Estimates suggest 70 to 90% of aquarium fish exported from the Philippines are caught with cyanide.cite journal|author=McManus, J. W., Reyes, R.B., and Nanola, C.L.|year=1997| title=Effects of some destructive fishing practices on coral cover and potential rates of recovery|journal=Environmental Management| volume=21|issue=1|pages=69–78| doi=10.1007/s002679900006] Due to the post capture handling stress and the effects of the cyanide, fish are bound to have a shorter life span than usual in our aquariums. According to an interview with experienced aquarium owners, they were willing to pay more for net-caught fish because of the higher survival rate. (50% on Canreef based on the poll) cite web | title=A glance at the marine aquarium fish trade in Hong Kong. | work=Tsang, A. | url=http://www.hku.hk/ecology/porcupine/por24/24-vert-fish.htm | accessdate=May 27 | accessyear=2005] They also said they would not trust an eco-labelling system, which can be misleading."


There is an even better video out there somewhere showing footage of cyanide fishing but I can't find it anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO2Hd...eature=related

Dynamite fishing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP2cc...eature=related



Good article explaining cyanide fishing (more about fish for food but same principle) :

http://www.cdnn.info/news/article/a030429.html

http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_P...ril_bombs.html


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...0/MN232485.DTL

http://www.albionmonitor.com/9608a/dynamitefish.html

Check out the image on Wiki:

Those are some huge dead fish and very damaged corals Wonder how many stunned fish they managed to collect and how many survived until someones aquarium?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blast_fishing

More than 150,000 kg of cyanide is believed to be used in the Philippines annually by the aquarium trade and more than a million kg have been used since the 1960’scite journal| author=Pratt, V.R.|year=1996|title=The growing threat of cyanide fishing in the Asia Pacific Region and the emerging strategies to combat it.| journal=Coastal Management in Tropical Asia| volume=5|pages=9–11] cite journal| author=Barber, C.V., Pratt, R.V.|year=1998| title=Poison and profits: cyanide fishing in the Indo-Pacific|journal=Environment| volume=40| pages=5–34]