While Lebanon is going through an historic financial crisis, fishermen are trying to survive by fishing with dynamite. A special Green Prophet report on a social and environmental disaster:

Sitting in the courtyard of his home in a port district of Tripoli, Sayed*, a fisherman in his sixties, enjoys a coffee prepared by his wife. The crutches that have helped him since a violent car accident are lying on the ground. In his damaged mouth, where only two teeth remain, is a cigarette, which he soon lights. With it, he demonstrates the effect of fire on ammonium nitrate. From a black bag, he extracts a handful of green powder which he placed on a plate. His family witnesses the sinister scene.

“This is what I make my dynamite with,” he says with a serious face. The old man pours the nitrate into a piece of plastic which he rolls up mechanically. His wife brings him some thread to tighten it. All he needs now is the detonator to finish the homemade preparation. Sayed is a former dynamite fisherman, an illegal practice. Even if he has not forgotten anything about its manufacturing, he claims he has withdrawn from the market.

Land of the cedar but also of the sea, Lebanon hosts 44 ports and a mostly artisanal fishing industry. Dynamite fishing has evolved throughout the tumults of history. During the civil war (1974 to 1990), sticks of dynamite were common currency. Today, it’s in Palestinian camps, such as in Nhar-al-Bared, 12 miles north of Tripoli, that you can find ready-to-use sticks. Other fishermen, like Sayed, prefer to make their own.

Also the recipes differ, they all use ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer sold in any agricultural store and the cause of the explosion at the port of Beirut in August 2020. “Homemade” dynamite also requires a detonator, banned from public sale but easily available on the black market. For the rest, everyone has their own tips. Some add sugar, others charcoal. With the crises of recent years, the techniques have been further refined.

Artificial reefs made from car wrecks are created to make nurseries for fish. Others, for saving fuel, swim to sea pushing a floating tire loaded with dynamite and bombard the fishes. A 50 kg bag exploding at a depth of 60 meters has a radius of 50 meters and can harvest up to four tonnes of fish. After the explosion, the fishermen just need to wait until the dead fishes go back up to the surface.

“Fish are killed by the shock wave which causes hemorrhagic lesions of the gills,” analyzes Rami Khodr, technical director at the RBML Food Labs laboratory in Beirut. Particularly effective, dynamite fishing is well established in the poor regions of North Lebanon.

Surviving poverty

Sitting under a sheet metal shelter with fishing companions, Amir*, 34, is waiting. Due to unstable weather, he was unable to go out to sea. The man lives in Aabdeh, in the Akkar region. The Syrian border is only 10 miles away. The surroundings are poor and abandoned, the smell of fish and diesel escapes from this small fishing port. “The fish are getting smaller and smaller and there are fewer and fewer of them, he says sadly. We sometimes have to go further to find it, but it costs a lot of diesel.”

So, for him, it is not surprising that some are turning to illegal fishing.

A two-hour drive north of Beirut, Tripoli is no longer the flourishing Phoenician city of the old days. The town was already poor before the economic crisis, but since 2019, Tripolitans have joined Syrian and Palestinian refugees in poverty. As day breaks over this desperate city, the port is bustling with activity. The fishing boats have returned from their night of hunting. On the market stalls, dozens of marine species lie in trays of ice. It’s hard to guess which ones were captured with the explosives. “Dynamite? None of that here!”, claims one of the sellers, clearly shocked by the question.

Lebanon’s shipwreck

If the pandemic followed by the explosion at the port of Beirut had already weakened the country, the economic crisis that occurred in 2019 and is still ongoing has destroyed much of the hope of the Lebanese population. The country is experiencing inflation which accelerated at the start of the year to reach 270% year-on-year in April, 2023. This crisis has plunged more than 80% of the Lebanese population into precarious living conditions, with half of them living in extreme poverty. To try to get by, people work night and day.

Thus, fishermen no longer belong only to the sea. They are also taxi drivers, café owners, bus drivers. Many had to sell their boats. “It is sad because fishing is a family tradition, a heritage,” adds Amir. Bassem is another fisherman from the port of Aabdeh. Sitting on a plastic chair in the hot sun, he relates his father’s accident in which he lost seven fingers while handling dynamite: “He was at sea. It was raining and windy. He lit a cigarette and the dynamite exploded. Since then he stopped using it.”

According to the Safadi Foundation, a structure that develops sustainable projects in Lebanon, 5% of fishermen use dynamite fishing. “In Tripoli, this technique was in decline for several years before increasing again in 2019, points out Samer Fatfat, consultant at the Safadi foundation. On the beaches of Akkar, it has remained constant.”

A failing state

On 25 miles of coastline between Tripoli and Syria, the army was quickly overwhelmed. In Tripoli’s Al Mina port alone, more than 1,800 fishermen are registered. These wooden motorboats, less than seven meters long, enter and leave the port by means of a simple visual check by the army from the dyke. While the authorities clearly lack resources, not even having enough fuel to arrest illegal fishermen, they may also be in cahoots with the outlaws. In the port of Al Mina, illegal fishermen are known to everyone but the omerta, a southern Italian code of silence, hangs over anyone who dares to denounce them.

As for the president of the fishing union, crisscrossing the Corniche and the fish souks aboard his gleaming black Mercedes, he brushes the question aside: “It’s not our mission to arrest the fishermen and if they are arrested it is only for a few days in prison.”

Corruption, however, is costly to illegal fishermen. According to one of them, 40% of the revenue is intended for corruption and 60% is shared between him and his crew. However, a law governing the rules of fishing in Lebanon exists since 1929. Dynamite is strictly forbidden. But like a country that does not have a president since a year, the state is falling apart and the laws are not applied.

Some fishermen even bomb the Palm Islands Nature Reserve, in front of Tripoli, where all human activity is theoretically prohibited. Explosions not only damage the seabed but also contribute to the reduction of fish stocks without distinction between small and large fish. A toxicological analysis carried out by the RBML Food Labs laboratory, which tested three samples of fish from a market in Tripoli, demonstrated a significant quantity of ammonium inside the fish. But due to the massive use of this fertilizer in agriculture, it is difficult to know whether this pollution comes from dynamites or land runoff.

Every day, hundreds of bombs are dropped in Lebanese waters by fishermen, descendants of Phoenicians, renowned for their navigation skills. In these ravaged lands, the sea is a constant witness to tragedies. Each time a conflict has caused the closure of maritime space, fishermen have found a sea rich in fish. But the natural cycle is constantly overtaken by the death spiral. The president of the Al Mina union even dares a comparison: “It’s like Israel and Palestine, the sea is the enemy against whom the fishermen throw bombs to survive.”

*names changed

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As officials from Mediterranean countries gather this week for the the UN’s General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) annual session in Croatia. The FAO-based group are working with NGOs urging the adoption of measures that would allow the GFCM to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and cases of non-compliance within its region – a call backed by a legal analysis published this week that shows that GFCM has the competency to impose such measures.

The Mediterranean is being overfished and damaging, illegal trawlers are killing undersea ecosystems. But with the UN’s poor track record in fighting and naming larger issues such as terrorism, it is likely that a UN group will have full faith buy-in for people fighting for fish.

The proposed system under discussion this week – which already exists in other regional fisheries management organisations – would allow the UN-run GFCM group to take action against countries that consistently disregard fishing regulations.

Several organisations of the Med Sea Alliance argue that creating a compliance mechanism is crucial for the Mediterranean’s biodiversity, fish stock recovery, and the communities that rely on marine resources.

“At the moment, the GFCM cannot act when countries systematically fail to follow its requirements on, for example, fleet control or properly reporting on their fishing activities, but with such a system in place, the GFCM could apply measures such as suspending fishing authorisations or requiring increased controls,” said Helena Álvarez, Senior Marine Scientist at Oceana in Europe. “This is a prerequisite for ensuring the survival of the Mediterranean’s unique biodiversity, to support the recovery of fish stocks and the communities that rely on marine resources”.

“The Mediterranean Sea, rich in biodiversity and vital to the livelihoods of countless fishermen, faces persistent challenges”, said Nils Courcy, Senior Jurist, Marine & Mediterranean, at ClientEarth. “Fishing rules and regulations are established through consensus, but implementation and enforcement often fall short. A compliance mechanism can help enforce regulations that prevent destructive fishing practices, such as bottom trawling, which can harm or destroy vital habitats, such as seagrass (Posidonia oceanica). This gap in enforcement endangers shared natural resources and the very existence of the fishermen who depend on them.”

A legal analysis by Professor Tullio Scovazzi – retired former professor of international law at the Universities of Parma, Genoa, Milan and Milan-Bicocca, Italy – and Professor Simone Vezzani, – professor of international and European law at the University of Perugia, Italy – confirms that the GFCM has the competency to impose corrective measures in cases of non-compliance.

The analysis was commissioned by the Med Sea Alliance, a coalition of non-governmental organisations working to improve the health and productivity of the Mediterranean Sea, in response to questions raised during the GFCM Compliance Committee meeting in May 2023 about the compatibility of such a system with international law. The legal analysis concludes that the current lack of a compliance mechanism is not a legal, but rather a political question.

“As this legal analysis shows, the only thing holding back GFCM from effectively dealing with states who don’t follow the rules is a matter of political will,” said Jesús Urios Culiañez, Environmental Justice Foundation’s lead campaigner for the Mediterranean. “This week, GFCM Members have an opportunity to make the meaningful change we need. By establishing a strong enforcement system for the conservation and management of the Mediterranean, they can protect marine ecosystems and support the livelihoods of those who rely on them. They must not let this opportunity slip away.”

In a Call to Action published during the GFCM High-level conference on MedFish4Ever initiatives, several member organisations of the Med Sea Alliance urged GFCM members to create a compliance mechanism, expand vessel tracking and that other tracking measures (AIS) and ensure that that trawl bans in the Mediterranean Sea are fully enforced and complied with to support the recovery of fish stocks and the protection of sensitive habitats.

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“It’s not as if they are doing it and hiding it; they’re doing it in broad daylight in front of the fisheries observers,” The National quoted Jabado in a recent report. “The law is there and no one is enforcing it.”

Stanley Hartman of the Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) confirmed Jabado’s concerns, adding that 60% of the annual shark catch takes place during the four months when fishing is banned.

The Gulf is one of the main Middle Eastern hubs for shark fins, which are exported to Hong Kong. An image published last year of a hammerhead shark and a pile of her 45 pups lying dead at a market in Dubai remains one of the most disturbing visuals of the industry’s destructive nature.

But without adequate regulation, profit will continue to drive the industry. One large shark fetches over $300, according to Hartman, which is a significant figure for poor fishermen.

Roughly 2,500 sharks were caught during the closed season last year, although that number is smaller than previous years. However, as Jabado puts it, “we’re still not at zero.”

“As many as 47 sharks and rays are threatened in this region, with this workshop we are taking an important step toward the sustainable management of shark fisheries and fin trade,” said Dr. Nick Dulvy from IUCN.

Compounding the problem, roughly half of the fishermen scouring UAE waters for sharks are unlicensed, even though the Ministry of Environment and Water, which instituted the ban in 2008, issues free licenses.

“However much we want to deny it, we do not have sufficient enforcement of the shark fishing,” said Thabit Al Abdessalaam of EAD.

“Rather than us denying, we need to do something to correct that.”

:: The National

Image credit: dead sharks in the UAE, Shutterstock

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A disturbing video of an enormous Great hammerhead shark (Sphyma mokarran) being hauled out of a truck in a Dubai fish market reveals once again the failure of authorities to monitor shark fishing in the United Arab Emirates. We had used an image of it here, but it was so violent and ugly Google banned the page! So we removed it for the tamer pic you see above.

In the UAE, it is officially illegal to kill sharks with the sole purpose of harvesting their fins, but Dubai has a record of supplying shark fins to Hong Kong, where they are highly coveted as the main ingredient in shark fin soup. They are never captured for their meat, which the International Union of Conservation (IUCN) claims is considered unpalatable. Hit the jump to see the video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LermuNgmwpQ[/youtube]

Reproductive prime

This video was uploaded onto the Shark Year website by Alexmoz76, who we were unable to reach for comment.

But Jonathan Ali, Managing Director of Wild Animal Productions and a renowned shark activist based in the UAE, posted the video on his Facebook page with strong exclamations of disapproval.

“Another massive great Hammerhead in Dubai fish market brought in from Oman!” he wrote. “They can barely get it out of the truck!! This is a magnificent specimen and reproductively in its prime! What a sad waste!”

Great hammerhead sharks are particularly vulnerable since they only reach sexual maturity when they are five years old, according to a 2011 story published in The National. And then they only reproduce once every two years.

Last year we posted a ghastly image of a female hammerhead that was killed along with a belly full of pups, a devastating loss to the species that prompted a massive outcry.

Shoddy enforcement

Shark conservation in the UAE is hampered in great measure because of gaps in crucial data, which Rima Jabado from Lebanon – a doctoral student at UAE University – is striving daily to fill. In an interview with Arwa, Rima describes the challenges associated with shark conservation and overfishing.

She explains that shark finning is a major threat to this apex species, but it is not the only one. Habitat degradation and by-catch in places where the hammerhead is not specifically targeted are other key factors contributing to diminishing populations.

Although Article 5 of the UAE’s Ministry of Environment and Water’s Decree No. 216 makes it clear that “capture of sharks for fins is prohibited,” the law in Dubai is poorly enforced. Notice that the men handling the enormous shark were completely unphased by the cameraman, which probably means that they have little fear of retribution.

Great hammerheads are listed as globally endangered on the IUCN red list but as long as their fins remain so profitable, it will be very difficult to slow their journey towards extinction.

More on Shark Fishing and Finning in the UAE:
Dubai Marine Life at Risk After Devastating Shark Catch
25 Shark Species in the Persian Gulf Need Urgent Protection
Shark Fin Soup Can Give You Brain Damage

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Tourists offended by this gruesome display of endangered species reported the Picalbatros restaurant in Hurghada, Egypt to the local conservation agency.

Tourists who dine at the Pickalbatros restaurant in Hurghada might be greeted with a gruesome scene: sharks, rays, and parrot fish hanging from hooks, Egypt Independent reports. While some people have turned a blind eye, on three different occasions tourists disturbed by this dark display contacted the Hurghada Environmental Protection Agency (HEPCA) (who is largely credited with the establishment of Egypt’s first dolphin sanctuary) to lodge a formal complaint. The agency in turn is pursuing legal action against the food chain.

Polyester imitations of sharks and rays?

Egypt Independent’s Louise Sarant traveled to the restaurants in question and snapped up ghoulish images of the animals being displayed from hanging hooks and on a buffet table.

Shark’s eyes were gouged out and sting rays were peeled raw, and patrons had the option of picking out a piece of flesh and having it grilled in front of them.

When HEPCA’s Ahmed Droubi caught wind of this foul play, he contacted the restaurant’s sales manager to complain.

“I have established contact with the sales manager of the Pickalbatros chain to complain about their display of dead protected species,” Droubi told Egypt Independent. “And he replied in an email that the fish were covered in polyester!”

Illegal fishing

The Red Sea governorate banned shark fishing in 2004, a law that was backed up by Egypt’s Agriculture Minister the following year. But regulation has grown soft since last year’s revolution and one environmental official speaking anonymously noted that employees of the General Authority of Fish Resources are running shark fishing boats on the side in order to generate extra income.

Sharks in the Red Sea are facing extinction. Since they are an apex species, this bodes poorly for the marine ecosystem, and could seriously erode the region’s tourism appeal.

Droubi told the paper that he has provided a lawyer with documents in preparation of a lawsuit against the hotel chain’s management.

:: Egypt Independent (formerly Almasry Alyoum)

images courtesy of Louise Sarant

More on the Red Sea and Sharks:

Egypt’s Red Sea Sharks Face Extinction

Post Revolution Development in Egypt Destroys Popular Red Sea Dive Spot

Egypt Establishes Country’s First Dolphin Sanctuary

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