Frowned Fishes: What are they trying to say?

by Vanesa Joy M. Valdez, Zamboanga National High School West

"Look at these frowned creatures, the ever-since look still gives us blessings." These are the clever words blurted out from my grandfather as he showed me the bucket of his freshly caught fishes when I was younger. I can still remember his tender smile and the way he grasp his fishnet firmly on his chest when saying these words. Out of curiosity, I looked closely at the fishes faces. Indeed, all are frowned which made me wonder. Lolo, why are they frowned? I asked. Then he told me, Apo, God made them. Maybe it has its purpose which we dont know yet. This conversation is one of the few learning that I earned from him that makes me constantly think. Nature really has woven elaborately life to the point that many of us would wonder to some details that may encrypt a message and it is us to know what it means. My late grandfather is a proud fisherman. He was able to make ends meet for his family by doing his humble calling. I remembered the first time I went along with him for fishing. I was so excited to see the wonders I only heard from my moms stories. My right foot was dropped down in the plown waters of the sea. Grandpa was busy rowing the boat while telling stories. We encountered other fishermen threw off their nets and saw loads of caught fishes in their boats. I wondered how they were able to catch those fishes. A majestic school of fishes swam with playful light reflected from the sun; cascades of colorful coral reefs and sea anemones. I could still see the seafloor the pebbles and aquatic plants were arranged like they were in a fish aquarium. I thought of just seeing them on television and just heard from my mothers stories, but I finally saw them in actual. Everything was totally amazing. I wished other people could also gaze the marvel Ive seen that day. During that day, we saw a wide cage made of bamboo that was coated with moss. Grandpa threw off his net to the water; it was not too long when he had a hard time to pull it back. I am so glad that these fishes will soon be profit. But his expression was opposite to mine; the odor of the fish was really irritating. I looked closely to the caught fishes, their eyes were not clear and they were red, as if they have sore eyes. The gills were pale and the scales were no longer shiny. I touched some, they were soft. I asked grandfather about this strange thing. I wondered what happened. He told me that these are indications that a fish is double dead. There are many possible reasons, why this occurs. The fish-killing in Taal Lake is a perfect example. This became a trending issue for about a month. As what Ive known, eating double-dead fishes may cause food poisoning and diarrhea or even worse, death. Stated in the news that some believe that overfeeding of commercial fish cages caused the die-off. Others think that increased emissions of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur from the Taal volcano may be a factor. The cause of the said fish-killing was still unsure. It is good that we brought extra big plastic; we put all the caught fishes inside it and planned to bury it afterwards. I ponder what caused the death of those fishes, perhaps it was from the cage that weve seen. Grandpa shared stories about the illegal fishing methods of other fishermen. It was just last week when he saw his friend, go fishing alone. At first, Grandpa ignored him, but he saw his friends boat full of dynamites. He warned his friend about this, but nothing happened. Dynamite fishing involves the usage of explosives to chase a large number of fishes. It does not only affect the population of marine animals, but also destroys their habitat.

Cyanide fishing is also common for them, Grandpa told me. This is another fishing technique in which sodium cyanide is used capture fishes at aquariums. Others use small-mesh nets, in which even little fishes are captured. Fishermen know that these fishing methods are prohibited, but some are still putting it into practice. From a book Ive read, these methods are effective yet seriously dangerous to the sustainability of marine life. They not only cause overfishing, but they also damage fishing habitat. Grandpa was still rowing the boat when we encountered a group of fishermen. They caught a massive number of fishes. I was so astonished; I wished Grandpa could catch the same like them. But he told me that those people were fish face, they catch fishes too much and leave almost nothing left in the sea. When catching fish, we need to consider that there should still be enough left for tomorrow. It was just this month of May when the news about Tuna overfishing was published in Philippine Daily Inquirer, written by Neal H. Cruz. Fishermen continue to catch tuna in such great numbers that the tuna population is being depleted rapidly. Philippine waters are the spawning grounds of tuna. The international organization has banned Filipino fishermen from catching tuna in Philippine waters. So the Filipino fishermen go to the high seas around Palau to catch adult tuna. The pressure of human population is one factor of overfishing. With the rapid increase of our population, there would really be an inadequate consumption and sometimes, shortage. But people must still use a little brain-power to keep only fish that the environment can afford to lose, let the survivors reproduce and its offspring to mature first before capturing. As humans, we have this responsibility to take care of our marine ecosystem. The fishes face has already been transcending a message to us but we have failed to understand them. They have been warning us since then to use them well for living. Apparently, we have done so much to abuse them. Dont let those frowned fishes (as they were created) truly frown and gone mad at us. We cant afford the consequences if nature translates its feelings against the burden we cost to them. We might not yet obviously experience their response to our heedlessness but we have to stand up now and make a difference and that starts when we decide. It is not too late to decide for conserving and preserving these frowned creatures. They may be frowning but it would always remind us that we have to think not just for ourselves but for the future that awaits our world. That in the end, all of us would benefit from it.