Subject:
Re: ShuFiMaFi - Aug. 22, 1997
Date:
Fri, 22 Aug 1997 13:51:20 -0400
From:
Roger Yazbeck <transx1@total.net>
To:
idrel@inco.com.lb
References:
1
idrel wrote:
> =========================================
> S H U
F I M A F I
> A weekly
news report on Lebanon and the Lebanese
>
> August
22, 1997
> =========================
> ========================================================
> ENVIRONMENT
> =========================================
>
> =======
Environmental group launches coastline
>
clean up campaign
>
>
The Operation Big Blue Association (OBBA)
> organized
a one-day campaign last Sunday to clean
> up the
country's Mediterranean sea shore.Thousands
> of volunteers
combed the coastline, picking up
> garbage
from the beaches as well as from the seabed
> in an
effort to spread awareness of environmental
> protection.
OBBA president HAZEM IDRISS said
> the collected
garbage was separated into plastic,
> glass,
paper, and metal items and bagged for
> recycling.
>
Dear sirs;
Kindly have my below message transmitted to OBBA officials, and if
possible to all concerned authorities.
Dear fellow Lebanese;
I feel personally concerned when it comes to any ecological move related to the sea. Especially the Mediterranean. I travel at least twice a
year to Lebanon, and I stay there between 4 to 6 months a year. That whole time is spent in the sea. I am free diver / spear fisher. I also SCUBA
dive. But I am mainly concerned with apnea (skin diving), which I practice regularly in the Canadian lakes and rivers, as well as the
Atlantic U.S coast (New England area).
I am a member of an international
freediving and spearfishing community, whose members are fervent ecologists and defenders of marine life.
I have told them a lot about diving in Lebanon, as I consider myself
fairlyl informed about our fish habitats and species in the Lebanese waters. Many organizations have contacted me to organize competitions in Lebanon
or at least, free diving and spear fishing trips there. I was
somehow little enthusiastic about that, due the several facts, which I will hereby state:
1- All municipalities and
beach resorts dump their sewage in the sea, without ANY previous treatment! I have found myself on
numerous occasions diving in repulsive brown clouds, even in highly praised beach
resorts. This is unacceptable, knowing that a small sewage treatment plant could be implemented at low cost, which would recycle sewage
before dumping it in the sea. I remember in my high school, «Collège
des Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes Mont La Salle»,
we had one sewage treatment plant, and that was in 1973
2- The garbage that municipalities
dump to rot in the air, right beside the sea. Sometimes they burn it, sometimes they don't. When
the sea gets rough, the waves reach the garbage, and by a natural reverse osmosis, toxins and other poisons seriously contaminate the marine
flaura and fauna
3- Some individuals are purposely
poisoning fish using a highly lethal chemical which brand name in Lebanon is : "Lanet" or "Lanit"
(I'm not too sure). This chemical kills all the fish in an area. from the tiny to the big ones.
After collecting the dead fishes they sell them to the consumers. If the
poisoned fish is not properly gutted and cleaned whoever eats it could die or end up in the I.C.U of the
nearest hospital.
Also, the smaller dead fish that remained in the sea (And I have personally witnessed the sad sight of beds consisting of thousands
of dead tiny baby sargos and other species) are then consumed by the bigger reef fish, such as the comb and the dusky groupers, which are very
highly priced in the Lebanese fish market. They end up crab meals after dying in their holes
and caves. We'll never know the extent of the damage done by the poisonings.
4- South of Beirut, in Damour
and Jiyeh to be specific, as I was once diving (November 1996) there, another diver was dynamiting the
fish there, right under the Jiyeh Power plant! He was being
protected by two non-Lebanese soldiers, carrying AK-47 machine guns. He
dynamited the area over 45 times. Filling up «his» old seat less and plate less
BMW with hundreds of kilograms of various fish species, he
would then leave and come back with the car empty, then fill it up again,
and again, and again. This illegal activity lasted the whole day.
Witnessing the dozens of torpedo fish, stingrays and other scavengers, as well
as the sighting of thousands of old carcasses and rotting fish, I could guess that this dynamiting has been going on on a regular basis, which
was confirmed to me by the workers at the sand pumping station on site.
I kindly asked him to warn me before throwing any dynamite
stick in
the water, as he almost blasted my ear drums the first time, but he wouldn't care less.
When I tried to cross to the other section of the bay, I swam
through the disgusting and stinky diesel fuel that was being dumped
by the power plant into the sea. The nasty liquid was about three inches thick on the water surface.
Naturally, there was no fish left to spear in the whole area.
5- The fishermen,
despite the new regulation restraining the net holes to a minimum of 2 cms diameter, are still using illegal
nets and practicing the "Jaroufeh" fishing method, which consists of dragging
a very long bottom net in a targeted area right to the beach, collecting each and every living
creature, the small and the tiny, on its way .
This method is decimating all the baby populations of snappers, breams, mullets,
etc.
It is very rare to find an adult fish in their nets, because these ones are usually found in deeper
waters. The baby fish caught are of a tiny size. And I mean
really tiny: between 3 and 7 inches at the most.
6- Last year,
I was told that spear fishing
while SCUBA diving was alllowed for the first time in Lebanon. Seems that all you need is the
yearly spear fishing license and a SCUBA license, both to be obtained
at the Agricultural Minister Offices. But I'm sure this is not true. The rumour
is spread by the greedy dive shops owners who are encouraging poaching, in order
to sell more gear.
I have nothing against SCUBA spear fishing where the law
permits it. To the best of my knowledge, the only 3 countries in the world
that allow spearfishing while on Scuba are the U.S.A, Canada and New Zealand.
Whoever spearfishes in Lebanon on SCUBA is a poacher, period. They are
destroying our local grouper populations, in their hideaway caves below 35 meters depth.
And since there is no law restrictions when it comes to sizes, bag limits or hunting seasons, then
SCUBA spear fishing should be treated as a very serious offence and punished by
law.
As you already know, the commercial fishermen are not authorized the use of any SCUBA gear or air compressors (they still do, though.
When they see the coast guards, they just dump the compressor over board). So, what happens, is that the best fish and seafood restaurants
(I won't name them here), hire individuals on SCUBA to supply them
on a daily basis with groupers, and ONLY groupers! (the grouper being sold
at prohibitive prices in restaurants, as you know, between 50 to 75 U$ a kilogram). This
has been going on forever...
I once saw in one of the best and most famous Lebanese restaurants, about 50 baby groupers, all caught by spear,
the largest one measured exactly 20 cms. (I measured it myself).
The chef told me they were the most expensive and highly praised as fried fish. 70U$ a kilo. It would take at least between 10 to 20 of
these babies to weigh one kilogram. If they knew how large these groupers can grow, and how long it takes them to reach maturity
and reproduce, they would think twice before buying them.
7- The commercial ships sailing
to Lebanon, wait until they get in our waters to dump all their garbage off board.
Beside all the pollution problems and thedecimation of the fish population, there is one more security hazard
Iwould like to report too: The Jet skis (Seadoos or Water Motorbike).
These are relatively new. But the market for them is growing rapidly, due to the excitement one
feels riding on the sea at 75 km an hour.
Problem is, unless a license for renting them becomes mandatory, our
beaches will be life threatening to all swimmers, divers, boaters and
windsurfers surfers.
It would be so simple to force the water-bikers to learn all the marine
signals as they would if they were road motorists! For example,
they should know that an orange, yellow or red buoy or floater, bearing
a red flag with a white diagonal bar means: STAY AWAY FROM ME! DIVER UNDERNEATH ! This might refrain them from playing water polo
with it. Lives would definitely be saved.
Remember that 60% of our national income is from services; thus tourism is vital to our economy. We are blessed with one of the most beautiful
coasts in the world. Our fish species are THE best tasting in the world.
It is in everyone's interest to correct this situation. I mean, even the poachers will eventually run out of resources and regret.
Hoping my above message will be communicated to the proper authorities, who would consider it. I love my mother land and I would love to travel
there more often and see swarming with happy and satisfied tourists
who will be spreading the word in their own countries, promoting Lebanon
as a MUST destination for every tourist.
Keep on the good work. God bless you all and LONG LIVE Lebanon!
Roger Yazbeck
Montreal, Canada
http://www.yazbeck.com/roger
e-mail:
yazbeck@bigfoot.com