Ghosts Up Above

Well it turned out that our "ghosts down under" were very much up above after all. Unfortunately, these ghosts seem to be in human form. The only time that our traps in a specific area aren't shacked (doors opened and bait bags missing) is after a spell of bad weather, when no one has been out fishing for a while. For example, last Saturday when we were among the few boats out hauling, there was no evidence what-so-ever of etherial activity.

Yesterday we discovered once again that traps had been tampered with in the same area. Two more fishermen approached us, sharing our grievances. Hauling empty traps is depressing and frustrating. The guys suspect they know who it is, but there is no way of proving it unless someone sees them in the act. Cap said "shacking shrimp traps is about as low as you can get." It's true. For 44 cents a pound, you're not exactly getting ahead by stealing 20 pounds of shrimp here and there.

Fishing is a very political business. I'm not just talking about legislative politics and the endless battle between scientists, policy-makers, and fishermen. There is a whole political side to the market alone. But local politics are perhaps the most immediately threatening and can become quite heated, brewing grudges and resentment that sometimes lasts for generations.