Reports have it that the number of endangered fish species in the country’s waters is increasing and that, those on the endangered list are going extinct, the efforts to salvage them going futile.
As usual, the prime culprits are illegal means such as dynamite fishing that destroy marine habitats, killing small fishes as well as the unhatched eggs, and driving bigger fishes to the brink of extinction.
Some measures must be done to address this problem. Those species that have utterly disappeared from marine habitats can no longer be retrieved, but the endangered ones can still be saved by protecting them from further destruction.
This requires political will from authorities who should pursue and penalize the abusers of the sea. Put the offenders behind bars if necessary so that others will not copy what they have been doing.
Campaigns designed to educate the people on the necessity to preserve endangered species must be done. All sectors should take part in this massive endeavor. The disadvantages of losing these species should be disseminated, and people should be instructed on what to do as regards advocating for marine resources preservation.
Media outlets must be tapped to ensure wide dissemination since people’s exposure to media outlets varies. Social media, above all, should serve as the leading enabler of information since most people nowadays are glued to Facebook and other socmed platforms.
In schools, students from elementary grades up to graduate levels should be informed about all this, and then told what to do so they, too, can participate in the conservation efforts. Teachers must look into this as the disseminators of knowledge.
Most importantly, this campaign should be sustained and not just left unattended to die a natural death after a few months. While some fish species remain endangered, efforts to protect them must prevail.
With the active participation of all sectors, awareness regarding marine life conservation would spread far and wide and become part of people’s priorities.
The loss of one species leads to another, and if we will do nothing about it, we might soon lose all of the remaining marine life, to our great loss and disadvantage.
