Bomb fishing is wreaking havoc on Indonesia's coral reefs

	Bomb fishing is wreaking havoc on Indonesia's coral reefs(e360.yale.edu)
	354 points by speckx 16 days ago \| 198 comments
	tl;dr: Researchers from the Zoological Society of London used underwater microphones and open-source AI to detect over 3,500 explosions in 3,600 hours off Indonesia's Spermonde Archipelago, estimating 8,500+ blast-fishing detonations annually in a 350-square-mile area. Each bomb destroys about 200 square feet of reef, contributing to a 75% coral loss since 1990. The team hopes GPS-synced audio sensor networks could enable real-time detection for authorities, offering a rare, locally solvable coral crisis unlike bleaching or warming.
	HN Discussion: ↑Firsthand confirmation of blast fishing damage and comparison of enforcement approaches across countries ~Poverty is the root cause; enforcement won't work without economic alternatives for locals ↑Expressions of shock and moral condemnation toward the practice ↓Questioning the article's statistics and methodology, e.g., football field math and distinguishing bombs from seismic surveys ~Broader critique that human exploitation of animals drives such destructive practices