As we go to the LFS on an near-weekly basis and look at all the near-identical marine fish, it’s hard to imagine that they don’t come from some kind of fish factory, even though we know they come from the ocean. Even the wild caught marine aquarium fish from the ocean vary in geographic origin but also in how they are collected.
Some fish are collected with unscrupulous methods such as cyanide, but at least in some places the fish are properly collected with nets, and hand fishing methods which cause no damage to the reef and little harm to the fish. Bali is not immune from the harsher fishing practices but at least on the north coast a co-op exists for more thoughtful fisherman to do ply their trade.
The video is light on details but lengthy on video clips of these Balinese fishermen catching all manner of marine fish. You gotta love the sneaking around the reef rock to corral the many anthias into the waiting seine net, meanwhile the noose with which the ribbon eel is collected is quite a surprise. We might think we know what happens to our fish on the other side of the world but unfortunately this attention and carefulness displayed in this video is the exception, not the norm.
