Blast Fishing

Also called dynamite fishing, the practice of using explosives, either commercial dynamite or more commonly homemade bombs made from a glass bottle packed with powdered potassium nitrate and pebbles or an ammonium nitrate and kerosene mixture, to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection; the shock waves rupture the fishes' swim bladders, causing most of the kill to sink rather than float to the surface. The practice is illegal in many jurisdictions and has been outlawed in parts of the world, yet it remains widespread in Southeast Asia, the Aegean Sea and coastal Africa, where enforcement is undermined by extensive, hard-to-patrol coastlines, the lure of easy and lucrative catches, and in some cases official corruption or indifference. Blast fishing indiscriminately kills large numbers of fish and other marine organisms and can cause extensive damage to coral reefs, and researchers identify it as one of the biggest threats to coral reef ecosystems, capable of reducing biodiverse reefs to rubble fields with little capacity for natural recovery.