Green Fishing, According to Islam
For every Muslim, Halal or ‘permissible’ in Arabic means that it passes the test, as far as food is concerned. This will certainly include correct handling procedures and many more practices.
But the question that has dogged Muslims for centuries has always been how to catch fish, using permissible methods that do not damage the environment.
“Lawful to you is the pursuit of water-game (fishing) and its use for food, for the benefit of yourselves and those who travel” (Surah Al-Maida, v. 96)
Dynamite fishing, cyanide fishing, and bottom trawling are all fishing techniques that may cause habitat destruction. A 2006 article in Science magazine said bottom trawling, the practice of pulling a fishing net along the sea bottom behind trawlers, removes around 5 to 25% of an area’s seabed life on a single run.
Ironically, communities in most South East Asian nations with large Muslim populations still practice blast or cyanide fishing with great environmental damage to coral reefs and many fishing and diving areas across the area, already severely damaged from the impact of dynamite fishing, have been ruined or totally lost through cyanide fishing using the chemical compound sodium cyanide despite both methods facing increasing use restrictions.
Back to “green fishing”. Islam speaks for sustainable ecology and seems to have scored big in “green fishing methods”, or ways that may also mean less or no damage to the ocean or river environments.
“He is the One (Allah) who established gardens, trellised and un-trellised, and palm trees, and crops with different tastes, and olives, and pomegranate - fruits that are similar, yet dissimilar. Eat from their fruits, and give the due alms on the day of harvest, and do not waste anything. He does not love the wasters.” (Surah Al-An’am v.141)
An initiative by the Africa Muslim Environment Network - AMEN, a network of Muslims and Muslim organisations in east and southern Africa launched in Lamu and Mombasa, Kenya that has re-introduced traditional, environmentally-friendly fishing gadgets is now bearing fruit.
“The Qur’an says that humanity’s role is to be Khalifa - the vice regent on earth for God. This does not mean we therefore have the right to do as we wish with God’s creation. Our role is to protect all life and to use it thoughtfully and carefully so that on the Day of Judgment we can report back to God that we have been true and faithful Khalifas.”
Local fishermen are using the traditional Swahili fish-trap which captures only mature fish, is handmade from renewable resources and could generate sufficient income to support many unemployed young people.
A similar initiative was launched earlier in Msali, an islet in Tanzania known for its large fish numbers. Misali Island Conservation Association - MICA, incorporates local fishermen as members to help protect the fish resources of this islet off Pemba, a larger island neighboring Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean.
Both projects in communities where fishing is the mainstay are experimental models for adopting Muslim education and environmental ethics as a way of innovative conservation and slowing the depletion of fish resources. Many fishermen admit using wrong gadgets in the past, including cyanide, blasting explosives, small mesh nets, and poles to break coral. They have exchanged these for the more sustainable ring nets to avoid mopping up vulnerable and endangered species like sea turtles.
The Misali project is linked to the Islamic Foundation For Ecology And Environmental Sciences - IFEES, a UK charity raising awareness among both Muslims and non-Muslims of the Islamic teachings on environmental issues.
They provide a fine example of Muslims rolling up their sleeves in their divine obligation to protect the environment and reverse trends toward ecological destruction based on the principles of the Quran.
Here, through a policy of sustainable fishing and environmental preservation, fishermen are heeding Qur’anic instruction but remain largely indifferent to measures by secular conservationists, thanks to ingenious eco-religious bodies that came in just in time and reminded them of Allah’s edicts on conservation of the ecology. It is green fishing, according to Islam.
Resources: Tropical Research and Conservation Center, Ecoreefs, Islamic Faith Statement on Ecology
Photo Credit: N Creatures via Flickr
It never occurred to me that religion would ever converge with conservation in so very simple ways. Simple fishermen in Africa as an example for the world to follow is very refreshing. Sam, this is a wonderful insight on eco-religion. Keep it up!
I am representing a family who is suffering from a blasting project. I do not care where you live. I suffer the same damage and pains as you. We are small and they are corporate. Blast fishing was abolerated (for a reason) so you know what these vibrations do to our homes and our environments.
G Bless