Yet the demand for fish continues to rise and so has the price for a pound of herring.
Fishing for Palauan people had been a controlled activity – at least prior refrigeration and the yearning for material goods that could only be bought with the U.S. dollar – that was sustainable.No one had the ability then to run after the tuna or the funding to hire foreign hands to bait the hooks that dangled on miles and miles of long lines, which stretched as far as the eye could see.Local fishermen then were bound by unwritten traditional laws to be mindful of the ocean.They were unsophisticated and relied on sharing, ingenuity, and cooperation to extract from the ocean only that which they needed and nothing more.Everyone was almost certainly guaranteed a fish even before he or she sets foot in the water.Everyone was happy and fish was abundant.
Fish is still abundant, but people are unhappy – the price is not right.Those who have made fishing their livelihood are barely making ends meet.Fishing, they say, has become too costly. The price of fuel, on top of the price hikes on most (if not all) fishing gears and paraphernalia is more than enough to make a fisherman think quadruple before going out to sea.Accordingly, a fisherman has to figure out when is the best time to go out- weather reports, tide schedules, seasons of regulated marine species, and on some occasions, schedule of wild life officers are factors that determine whether a boat is unmoored or not.He or she would then have to decide where to fish – especially now when there is a number of “no entry” marine protected areas and a few “passport entry” state territorial waters.The fisherman then would have to contend with who to bring on the fishing trip – I bet he or she would definitely not bring along anyone who is just “in for the ride and the experience.”And then, depending on how much and what kind of fish, mammal, or amphibian is caught, the fisherman would have to look for a potential buyer – if there is one who is willing to accept a stated price and then keeping his or her mouth closed after the buy.
More often than not, the fisherman, though he or she may earn a little profit is unhappy – living on edge.Likewise, people who buy fish are not happy either – too high a price for something that is raw, boney, and sometimes illegally caught.No one is happy except may be a few who find joy the life underneath the surface of the sea.
I love fishing.I am happy when I am out in the water trying to outthink and outmaneuver whatever it is I am after below the surface of the sea.I feel good whenever I pull a red snapper out of the water – I know exactly who to give it to (for free.)I do get a little tesne when sharks show up.I think someone must have informed them that they now live in a sanctuary – no more fin sacrifices.But then they seem happy and leave me alone.
We have swallowed too many canned sardines and the sharks living on land are far more cruel and indiscriminate.They feed on just about anything that smells cents. You and I ought to go out fishing sometimes – not for profit but to get away from the sharks.We need to get away from the who-la-la and the hoopla.We simply need to fish to be happy and maybe, just maybe, we would catch enough to give away and make others enjoy fish.Find some bait and get hooked on giving.
//
