Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is believed to be the cause of more shark sightings off the coast of Lebanon. In this exclusive report on dynamite fishing we uncovered the extent of the problem in Tripoli –– how fishers are using illegal, handmade dynamite to blast fish out of nature reserves. The Mediterranean Sea is overfished. And blast fishing is having an impact on other sea life, including sharks and possibly whales and sea lions.
On social media people in Lebanon are worried about getting attacked by sharks, with resorts this past summer warning bathers about the danger at sea. Blast fishing or dynamite fishing is when fishermen drop handmade explosives into the water making it easier to kill tonnes of fish using one blast. The blast damages the fish gills and they float to the surface making for an easy but deadly haul. The method also kills fishermen when not detonated correctly.
Sharks are getting closer to the shore now and locals in Lebanon blame blast fishing: “This makes it easier for sharks to compete with fishermen for their fish,” one local in Lebanon said. “This changes the behavior of sharks.”
There has not been a fatal attack by shark in Lebanon, but predators can be a threat to humans if they get too close. Some large sea creatures like orca whales are fighting back against humans by deliberately sinking boats off the coast of Morocco. One orca attacked by a fishing boat is teaching other orcas how to fight back.
Tel Aviv is 250 miles from Beirut and just last year there was an unusual sighting of a sea lion which lingered for several days on a beach of Jaffa, the sister city to Tel Aviv. We visited her there as she languished in the sun. Although veterinarians say that she appeared to be unharmed perhaps she was a victim of Lebanon’s blast fishing? Sea lions are rarely seen in Israel, and live in clusters further north. Sea lions do compete with fishermen for fish.
Also in May, 2022 a dead sperm whale washed up on the shore of Tel Aviv. It was the third dead whale to wash up on Israel’s shore that year. Dr. Aviad Scheinin, the head of the marine biology department at Haifa University, told the Maariv news site that it was a young sperm whale and that its advanced state of decomposing made it difficult to immediately determine the cause of death. Scheinin noted that sperm whales are endangered in the Mediterranean Sea.
Blast fishing in Lebanon may be the cause for dead sperm whales, sea lions on shore and new shark sightings. Time to stop the barbaric practice. But with Lebanon hosting a terror group Hezbollah within its own state, it is obviously impotent when it comes to enforcing laws that protect citizens. Remember the 2020 bomb blast in Beirut due to negligence? We can’t expect Lebanese biologists to have any power in stopping blast fishing at sea so international organisations should be getting involved.
These researchers in Tanzania heard blasts from dynamite fishing more often that whale calls. They say that blast fishing kills all marine life. Seal bombs are also used in California. How can we stop the practice of blast fishing globally?
