“PARROT FISH ARE IMPORTANT!!” exclaimed Reg O. Carlotta in a recent viral post on Facebook. The post itself garnered a crazy 191,000 shares!
She shared how she was going about her day in Alabang Market in Philippines to buy meat and seafood when she stumbled upon something shocking. It was a stall in the fish section that sold Parrot fish.
Source: National Geographic
It took her by surprise that she confessed that it made her stop in her tracks while she muttered “that’s not good and that’s not right”. She made sure to take pictures because she wanted to educate the public how important these fish are to us.
“There are important reasons why we should not eat them and we should educate the fishermen to stop catching these beautiful fish! Please do spare them … The ocean needs them to regenerate.”
She continues by stating the reason why humans need to stop hunting and eating them.
“Parrot fish eat algae and dead coral. They spend up to 90% of their day nibbling. In other words, they clean the reef. This is important because most of the reefs across the tropics are being smothered by algae because there are not enough parrotfish and other herbivores out there grazing.
“After all that eating, get this: They poop fine white sand – lots of it! Each parrotfish produces up to 320 kilograms (700 pounds) of sand each year.”
She emphasises how their numbers are so depleted now, causing algae levels to be very high. Hence, they cannot be fished sustainably right now anywhere in the Caribbean.
Source: Facebook
She adds,
“These flamboyant, algae-eating, sand-pooping fish need to be left in the water. And when they are left to chomp away, they do a brilliant job. A massive new report concludes that reefs where parrotfish were abundant in the 1980s are the reefs that are healthy now.”
She concludes by saying that there is a reason for their existence so please let’s not eat them. She also hopes the government is able to educate the fishermen so our ocean can be preserved. As for the readers, she urges everyone to not buy parrot fish so fishermen will not continue to catch them.
According to National Geographic, to save our dying coral reefs, we must first start with these parrotfish.
“Simply don’t catch fish faster than they reproduce. Caribbean-wide analysis shows that the #1 thing we can do to ensure the health of coral reefs is to protect parrotfish.”
Now that was an insightful yet very important piece of information. Spread the word so everyone can stay woke.
Also read: This Terengganu Man Is Proud He Caught a 140kg Fish, But Here’s What Netizens Say
