Environmental Rescue of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary - Reveal the ecosystem and coral reef damages caused by the fishing industry in the FL Keys to contribute to its preservation, while incentivizing the fishing industry to focus and invest in creative concepts for the development of alternative and less harmful fishing methods. Please click on each photo for caption.
Fisheries is one of the only food sources for humanity that is still procured through wild harvest. Lobstering is the most abusive wild fisheries harvest within the Keys. The Keys produces about 3⁄4 of all lobsters harvested in Florida. However, there is no discussion about addressing the persistent damage caused by the lobster trap method of wild harvest. By using art to tell this story above and below the surface, I seek to ring the bell of change to disarm the resistance within the fishing industry to seek alternative and less destructive fishing methods. These photos barely scratch the surface of the issue. This project entails diving deep, literally, into this ecosystem and help remove abandoned death traps from the ocean floor, free entangled creatures inside, remove debris collected on the shorelines and build site specific sculptures with the collected materials to convey to the public the severity of the damage caused by this method of wild lobster harvest.