Silent killers are lurking in our waters. Whether small or large (some as big as a football field), they kill fish and other marine life by the thousands. These serial killers of the sea are called "Ghost Nets," floating walls of deliberately discarded or lost-at-sea fishing nets which kill again and again for years before they rot or fall apart.
Eventually, the nets fill indiscriminately with scores of marine life and are weighed down, sinking to the bottom where they remain while the dead rot away or are eaten by scavengers. Then these gaping "jaws" of death float back up again to refill themselves, repeating this process indefinitely. Nylon nets are particularly long-lived.
Unfortunately for victims caught in the nets, death comes slowly, either by drowning, shock or exhaustion. If some manage to get free, they may die later from their wounds.
I wonder how long something similar to this type of carnage would be allowed to continue if it were happening on land? Would not public outcry become great if herds of land animals were trapped in roving nets and left to die, as we watch them on the news, struggling to get free? But ghost nets are hidden from view beneath the waters and most of us are not even aware of the problem. Yet it is cruelty to animals, killing for no reason and affecting fish stocks in some areas on a large scale.
Fortunately, however, this issue is coming to the attention of groups who are trying to track and eliminate the ghost nets. But more must be done to get at the cause of the problem which are the fishermen themselves. For those not responsible for taking care of their nets, fines must be stiff and punishment, severe.
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