“Look at that! Mackerel, herring, Bluefin tuna. There’s six months’ worth of fish here. It’s a miracle!” exclaimed one of the fishermen, admiring the baskets and nets splayed out over the trawler’s deck.
“A miracle, indeed, and the day’s not over yet. I think if we head north we’ll hit some even bigger shoals,” called the other man.
“You sure? The wind’s picking up, and the water’s getting choppy.”
“Don’t worry, just one more trawl over that way, then we head back in.”
Just one more was one too many, for overfishing had made it to the waters of Greenland. Greenland was getting warmer, and NGOs worried for its highly coveted waters. Fishing seasons were getting longer. In amongst the icebergs of the north, a gold rush was developing. Fish stocks were abundant, and nets were full to bursting. People were increasingly overfishing, and destroying marine fauna. If governments did not take action, certain species of fish would be facing extinction. Using cutting-edge technology, boats could take in hundreds of kilos of fish per day. Fishing was becoming too influential in Greenland. It was so profitable that all the large fish had already been caught. Now, fishermen could only catch smaller species.
On land, sled dogs were rarely used for hunting and fishing anymore. Boats were much more useful to the inhabitants of Oqaatsut. Once, the locals had ridden sled dogs over the ice to fish through holes in mid-October. Today, there was no ice left. The oceans were warming, and thousands of species such as mackerel, Bluefin tuna and cod had migrated to the coast of Greenland. Some fishermen lamented the halibut, which was now difficult to find. These fish liked to live in cold waters. But with the climate changing, what were they to do?
The fishing boat had finished its outing, and sailed slowly back to the Oqaatsut harbour, cutting through the crystal-clear waters. On board, thousands of small fish and hundreds of larger specimens flapped and fretted. They jumped and flipped in panicked desperation. In twenty minutes or so their agony would be complete; they would be collected and frozen by the villagers of Oqaatsut, then shipped on to be sold and consumed around the world. Greenland fed most of the world’s population. As the villagers of Oqaatsut grew wealthier, fish dwindled in the seas around Greenland.
Tomorrow, the trawler would head out again for another day’s fishing.
Alan Alfredo Geday
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