Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Centennial Beach

 
Every day the tide brings something into the beach.
We see some of the results floating on top of the water, like this small crab.
What is more interesting is that this crab is empty and it's been pulled apart
from the tail end, like people would do it, to eat.
However,you find it lying whole, seemingly intact.
One can only assume that the sea gulls pull it apart just enough to eat the insides and
then leave a very light, dead crab, to float in to shore to be found, admired, taken pictures of.
We are not allowed to take crabs smaller than a certain size.
This one is way smaller
and then, they have to be male.
In fact, I hardly ever remember seeing a female crab
around the local shorelines.
On the east coast, Montreal sells female crabs so one wonders why they are so strict in BC. Maybe because we have more demand here.
We used to go crabbing with crab nets and it was fun to watch as these guys entered the
metal cage to feast on a fish. Sometimes you'd get two or three attacking one fish and the net would be heavy to lift.
Even with a license, the RCMP walk to check to make sure you don't take above the quota allowed
which is not much. They would measure the crab and fine you if it was smaller than allowed.

Once I was pulling out an empty net to prepare to go home and the RCMP came and asked me for my license. I told them I didn't have one and the one doing the crabbing with the license, was swimming.
I was just packing up.
They take such things very seriously here in BC and it kinda makes the sign
GONE FISHIN
a sign of stress .
They even have laws to catch a fish.
No wonder the fish farms love to have people coming over.
You can catch as many as you want and pay them by the pound.
They bite quickly and nothing looks better than a nice fat trout at the end of the line.
The only thing that is sad is that the fish are accustomed to the fish farmer who whistles to tell them it's chow time
and they swim in hoards looking for some tasty treats.
And we think fish can't hear.

They hear and know plenty.
  At least trout do.
It must be sad for the farmer to see the babies he grew, being caught and sold.
But then again ......money talks..... and you still need to feed them.

xxoxoxoxo


4 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

It's amazing what nature does to please herself. A great post, my friend. Thank you.

A Lady's Life said...

thanks sandy

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

H A Lady's Life .. happy Canada Day just gone .. very sad we have to farm fish .. but at least we have fish, crabs etc to eat.

Fish can smell, see and hear with particular senses developed for their environment - incredible to think that we thought they weren't specialised at all .. or hadn't developed in any way ..

Love the photo ..

Cheers Hilary

A Lady's Life said...

Hilary - after finding this out about fish, I thought maybe they have feelings too and suffer. So I lost the joy to fish and as for crabs and lobsters I freeze them before cooking so they don't feel anything when they die if they are not already dead that is.
Makes you think not to kill unless its necessary to survive.