Saturday 16 April 2011

Lost in translation rules

The other day I visited one of the Ministries to obtain a permit to visit the Daymanyiat Islands with our boat. They are a nature reserve so a permit is required. Unfortunately we didn't go to the islands in the end because of the (incorrect) forecast and changeable weather that we have had during these past couple of weeks so we remained cautious and kept to the familiar waters of Bandar Khyran. Nonetheless I would like to share with you the rules for visiting the islands which I discovered last week and which I think are important:



My favourite is rule number 4 - I have heard that this is an issue that has caused some frictions between fishermen and divers lately. Personally, despite my strong views about conservation I am not a big fun of activist style action. I do believe that conservation is about education and awareness - like everything it requires a sustainable plan and suitable alternatives for people who make their living out of the sea - but that's another (long) story. However, apart from the fact that I fail to understand the role of cages and fishing nets in a marine reserve (other than maybe the fact that fishing is allowed on a seasonal basis?) I cannot remove from my head this image of divers/snorkelers suddenly disintegrating with fishing equipment.

In my imaginary world I have created a wicked version of battleship: I am placing diver in cell A4; diver activates self-destruct button on BCD while touching net - boom - net and diver disintegrated. Fish wins!

Ah... how boring would the world be if things didn't get lost in translation every now and then?