Fishy Bombs Found: Pauruan, East Java, Indonesia

I have heard some fairly odd fishing tales about the one that got away, but this fishing tale does take the cake, so to speak. The Police in East Java found a cache of explosives and the owners of this cache had some quick explaining to do.

On Friday police entered a house in the village of Pauruan in East Java after an explosion and came across 43 bombs. It seems that one of these bombs accidentally detonated during the week and killed one man. When the police investigated they found the stash of high-intensity explosives.

However, police have ruled out any connection to terrorism because after lengthy interrogation, the owners of the explosives said they used the bombs purely for fishing. It appears from numerous sources that the family living in the house had sold these explosives over many years to local fishermen and anglers in the area.

Dynamite fishing is banned in Indonesia. Many fishermen use explosives to catch fish off the country's coast and this illegal activity damages coral reefs and other marine life.

There should be heavy penalties and jail time for anybody damaging the environment and particularly the ocean environment. I recall once reading in a scientific journal where the prediction was that the whole of mankind will eventually rely on the ocean for its sole food source.