These are systems that supposedly, if manipulated purposely and delicately, could serve to revive Palau’s declining economy; and hopefully, provide opportunities for people to feel some weighted cents in their porous pockets – given that there has not been a custom free weekend since the first day of January.
With the nets in the waters and perfumed chums dropped into the currents, it likely that the catch would be humongous – it would tip the scales!But then again, I wonder how much of the catch is worth keeping? Is it all edible? How much of it would be shared? Who decides what is put back in the water?Everyone has gotten a whiff of the catch and some have begun designating storages here and there in preparation for a predicted leaner time. Others are getting ready to receive the by catch. You and I have been too busy trying to monitor the movements of the sharks – in and outside of the nets – that we have failed to notice that the navigators have directed us into uncharted waters. The sharks in these waters can bite in the dark.I can almost guarantee that there are other fishermen in these uncharted waters with artificial lures equipped with razor sharp trebled hooks who aim to cast their lures in our direction – duck. If you get caught, you might as well be a canned mackerel.We are not is such dire straits as pronounced. No one has died yet as a result of the economic downfall. There has not been any uprising. No one has died of hunger. Our government is still operational. We do not have to go fishing beyond our regular fishing grounds – the fish are still biting in these areas.I really think is a risky gamble to fish beyond our reefs – the waters out there are too deep and tend to be extremely rough. Most of us have not learned to swim in these waters. Further, our nets and our lines are not strong enough to secure an assured catch for everyone.You and I must work very hard to persuade are leaders to take us fishing in waters we are familiar with. I do acknowledge that from time to time they must go trolling outside of the reef; however, I do hope that make sure that their catch is not riddled with diseases before it is fed to us.The smell of money sure does make everyone hungry. The sound of cents is music to everyone’s ears. However, it certainly does not make any sense at all to cast our nets on a blurred epiphany – that we would be making money without making any bets.
