Panama’s Coral Reefs Ringed with Threats
Last edited Wed Oct 29, 2014, 05:31 PM - Edit history (1)
Panamas Coral Reefs Ringed with Threats
By Emilio Godoy
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The town of Taboga viewed from the sea. Credit: Creative Commons
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TABOGA, Panama, Oct 16 2014 (IPS) - Fermín Gómez, a 53-year-old Panamanian fisherman, pushes off in his boat, the Tres Hermanas, every morning at 06:00 hours to fish in the waters off Taboga island. Five hours later he returns to shore.
Skilfully he removes the heads and scales of his catch of sea bass, snapper, marlin and sawfish. He delivers the cleaned fish to restaurants and hotels, where he is paid four dollars a kilo, a good price for the local area.
I use baited hooks, because trammel nets drag in everything. Thats why the fishing isnt so good any more: the nets catch even the young fry, said this father of three daughters, who spent years working on tuna-fishing vessels.
Gómez lives 200 metres from Taboga islands only beach, in a town of 1,629 people where the brightly painted houses are roofed with galvanised iron sheets. Located 11.3 nautical miles (21 kilometres) from Panama City, the mainstay of the island is tourism, especially on weekends when dozens of visitors board the ferry that plies between the island and the capital twice a day.
Gómez, who comes from a long line of fishermen, tends to go out fishing at midnight, the best time to catch sea bass. On a good day he might take some 30 kilograms.
The fishing here is good, but we are dependent on what people on the other islands leave for us, said Gómez, tanned by the sun and salt water.
The island of Taboga, just 12 square kilometres in area, lies in the Gulf of Panama and is the gateway to the Las Perlas archipelago, one of the most important nodes of coral islands in this Central American country of 3.8 million people.
More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/10/panamas-coral-reefs-ringed-with-threats/