Fishing in Sipadan

DAILY EXPRESS NEWS Fishing at Sipadan? 01 June, 2005 Kota Kinabalu: A repeat visitor to Pulau Sipadan since1999 has alerted the public to what may be happeningto the island when no one is watching after 4.30pmunder the new ruling when all must return to Sempornaon the mainland. She based her concern after gathering evidence ofdamaged corals and fishing lines and the absence ofbarracudas. Even 20 dives there last week saw no sign of the famedschools of barracudas advertised worldwide whileplastic bags are beginning to invade the world classdive site with seemingly no one to pick them up,according to French journalist, Martine Carret. Other shifting baselines include less sighting ofturtles, jacks and the massive Humphead parrot fish. She also alleged that lots of abandoned fishing linesand damaged corals suggest that some people havestarted a fishing spree of late when nobody iswatching. A previous claim of damaged corals at nearby Pandanandrew a sharp rebuttal from the army. The publicationof what appeared to be a trawler with Sipadan in thedistance early this year was also refuted. Martine Carret, a veteran diving writer, said when shevisited Sipadan in 1999, she had a "very, very goodstay." "There were turtles everywhere. They even came to look at you and the reefs werereally wonderful. "You could go inside the whole school (of barracudas)whirling around you. There were schools of jackfishtoo. And very, very huge Humphead parrot fish spreadout such a big wall even my super wide angle lenscould not get everything in." In 2003, Martine who became a journalist since 1988and a diver with 600 dives all over the world, since1991, visited Sipadan a second time. "That's when I heard the resorts in Sipadan were goingto be closed. I was thinking maybe it's a good idea -a reserve where nobody was going to fish," she said.She did that last week in her third visit with husbandYann Saint-Yves. "But we came back very, very sad," she told DailyExpress. "There's a place called Barracuda Point butthe barracudas are all gone," she said. "I was told this was a marvelous place to see schoolsof barracudas but I never noticed any even in 20dives," he said. Fished out or migrated? Investigations are needed tosay one way or the other. Martine said while she alsosaw fewer turtles and fewer Humphead parrot fish,plastic bags were also becoming ubiquitous. "Every dive you would see six to 10 plastic bagsfloating and they are very dangerous because turtlesand dolphin think they are jelly fish, eat them anddie," Martine said. "Autopsies on dead turtles in all places usually findone thing - plastic bags in their stomachs." Not onlyare they in the waters, Yann picked up many largeindustrial plastic bags after a short 20m walk nearthe jetty. "Something happened in Sipadan (since the newruling)," Martine said. "When I came in 1999, the resorts were there. Theycleaned the beaches every morning. So, there was norubbish, no trouble with plastic bags." More disturbing news still is the jetty which used tobe a good place to sit and watch the beautiful sunset."This time, I didn't see much fish but a lot ofabandoned fishing lines tethered to the jetty.Somebody has been fishing there lately." Martine said she tried to remove the fishing lines andto her dismay, found many broken corals identified asAcropora Sp, just below the jetty. Apparently, the hooks got stuck in the corals and intheir attempts to pull the hooks free, they tore thecoals apart. Other lines got so entangled among the corals thatwhen she tried to free them, she managed to untangleonly one and said she hoped to give it to the tourismauthorities. "The line that I freed clearly shows shredded coralremnants all along it," she said. But just who are these culprits? It can't be diverssince they are given strict "no fishing" instructionsas part of the rules and regulations. No free visitorsare also allowed except authorised personnel. "So, I wonder who is doing all this fishing in Sipadannow. Before, when I was a guest, we did not want tofish because the jetty was the best place to see Jackfish." "I think one of the most difficult problems is thatall the boats arrive at the same time," she said."Before, the number of guests were limited - only 80.Now I see many boats and a lot of divers, all comingat the same time and departing at the same time," shesaid. After 2.30pm to 4.30pm, everybody had gone back toSemporna. "What goes on when they have left and nobodyis watching?" she asked. "When we were diving, we heard the bombing - bigexplosions," she said. In addition, she saw peopledismantling some of the resorts for the wood and they"go straight to the reefs, not the jetty." "We French take care of our country. When I drink, Ikeep the caps of my plastic bottle. My camerabatteries also go back with me. I don't leave myrubbish here. In France , there is a charity business of recyclingplastics and batteries. I take them with me and putthem into collecting bins in our supermarkets. So please do something, take care of Sipadan. This isyour country," Martine pleaded with Malaysians andauthorities in Sabah. "It's so nice here. I want to come back again becausethere are not many places where you can see so manyturtles," said Matine who writes for French divingmagazines, Oceans; Apnea, Partir Plonger (Let's GoDiving) - Plongee magazine.

Dear Diary...

Dear Diary,

Today, the most horrific thing happened to me in my 7 years of existence! I am scarred for life. I am afraid that I will not be able to sprout any more leaves or dig deeper with my roots. I'm so traumatized that I think I need professional help before I wither and die. *Sob* *sob*

It was a cool and quiet night in Taman Desa, where I have been rooted since I was a sapling 7 years back. It was about 3am, and from a distance, I can see the headlight of a car approaching. Probably one of the late night party goer on the way back home. I see this a lot over the years, especially on the weekends. Every car that passes, all passed on by without taking a note of my existence. I am glad for that, I sure don't want trouble with them, especially if they are intoxicated with alcohol after a night of drinks.

But tonight, as this approaching car drove past me, it suddenly braked and screeched to a halt. As I stared ahead and wondered why the car had stopped so suddenly, the car suddenly engaged its reverse gear and backed straight towards my direction at a frightening speed! I was horrified. I can't move! Within a blink of an eye, I felt my body being rammed! Oh, how it hurts! Good thing there was a curb that slowed that metal beast down, otherwise, I would have been uprooted!

As I felt the back of the car against my body, and my senses trying to register what had happened, a girl stepped out from the driver side of the car, with her handphone held next to her ears and she was still conversing into the phone. As she stepped towards me, I was hoping that she will at least have a look at how I was, after all, I've been her kind, quiet neighbour for years! But no, she had a look at the back of her car, and noticed that the bumper of the car was dented and the number plate had fallen off as a result of the impact to my body. I can see that she was getting upset and she began to flail her arms around wildly, accusing that I was the cause of the crash! I can only keep quiet, I had no opportunity to present my view of the event. In the midst of her tantrum, she flung her phone towards me and caused a scar on my side, but wrecked her nice phone to pieces. Hah. Serves her right!

I can hear her mutter to herself that she will want to do a report to the officials that I caused this crash and will want to claim payment for damages, and punitive damages as well! And she immediately climbed into her car and drove off. I was flabbergasted. It was so obvious that I had done nothing wrong. It was a pure hit-and-run case, yet, now I will be investigated, and in all probability be found guilty, because in accordance to the law, I had caused the accident because it was the back of the car that was damaged. I will probably be uprooted because I will be deemed a menace to the society. Oh, how cruel life could be, for a poor innocent tree that has stayed inconspicuously on the same spot over the years. Tell me, oh tell me... how could I continue to live out my days?

Traumatised Tree.


*published with permission from Traumatised Tree.

Disclaimer: All story line and characters portrayed in this blog is purely fictional and have no relevance to anyone dead or alive. Any similarities to real persons and incidents are purely intentional

Carmen's Police Report

Pada 28 haribulan May, 3 pagi ketika saya pulang dari Cream atau Loft atau Zouk(tak pasti) setelah minum 3 tequila, 2 JD coke, 3 GinTonic dan 1 carlsberg, Saya terlibat dalam kemalangan dengan sebatang pokok 3 kaki. Bila saya berhenti di persimpangan Jalan Desa Utama dan Jln Desa Utama 1 untuk pusing kiri ke Faber Ria, Pokok yang terlibat tidak membrek dan datang dari belakang secara laju dan melanggar kereta saya nombor CAR 1234. Saya ada menggunakan isyarat untuk belok kiri. Kepala saya terpelanting akibat perlanggaran itu dan saya mendapat hangover pada pagi keesokannya. Telefon Bimbit saya (bernilai RM1600) yang saya sedang mengunakan pada masa itu tergelincir keluar dari tangan saya dan jatuh lalu pecah dan rosak. Kereta saya kemek di bamper belakang dan nombor plet jatuh. Setakat ini saja kerosakan yang diketahui pada masa kini. Tujuan report ini ialah untuk membuat tuntutan pampasan wang dari DBKL

oleh.
Tan Ka Mun.


Repot dicatat oleh
Ismal Ibrahim
(334121-2)

Reproduced with kind permission of Polis DiRaja Malaysia