By Hook, Line & Sinker!
MEDIUM:
Fabric covered archival board-assemblage: collage, gauze, fishing lure, acrylic paint on canvas board.
ARTWORK:
11″ x 14″ x 1″
FRAME:
Natural maple finished wood.
15″ x 17″ x 2″
RESERVED FOR DONATION OR AUCTION
LAST FISH SWIMMING DRAFT
BY HOOK, LINE & SINKER!
The 16th century idiom “Fishing in Troubled Waters,”1. for the existence of today’s fish are life threating waters troubled with a plethora of hazards from lost habitat, over fishing, plastic pollutants, etc. The prevalence of such hazards makes it difficult for fish to tolerate or hide from making extinction more likely.
A National Geographic Society study determined wild fish can’t reproduce faster than eight billion people can eat them. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists 455 fish species endangered and 87 possibly extinct. 2.
The Blackspot Chromis fish species is red listed as critically endangered from increasing water temperatures, etc. It is found in the waters near the Galapagos Islands made famous by the evolutionist Charles Darwin (1809-1882).
Contrary from being extinct is the Humpback Black Devil Anglerfish existing in the ocean’s dark abyss approaching depths ranging from 3,300 to 13,100 feet. It is ghoulish in appearance, with bioluminescent capabilities and an array of fangs for catching prey. Although, rarely observed it is red listed as of least concern from becoming extinct. 3.
The assemblage artwork “Last Fish Swimming,” examines how netting and barbed fishing hooks contributes towards the loss of fish populations and even extinctions. While the possibility of a last or final fish swimming in our oceans is remote, the global threat and extinction of fish species continues happening.
Image: Humpback Anglerfish, Norbert Wu/Minden Pictures/c. July 30, 2019.
Sources:
1. Matthew, Henry. (1662 -1714) “To Fish in Troubled Waters,” Bartlett Familiar Quotations, Little Brown & Co., Boston, 1980., p.319. 7. Note: First use of this idiom is claimed to be from 1568, www.Dictionary.com.
2. Ayana, Johnson & Jacquet, Jennifer. “Will the Ocean Ever Run Out of Fish,” National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C. 2017.
3. Broad, William. “The Creepy Anglerfish Comes to Light,” Photo source: Norbert Wu/Minden Pictures, copyrighted, New York Times, N.Y. N.Y., July 29-30, 2019.
4. Editors, “What to Do About Plastic Pollution: Bans on bags will not solve a global recycling failure,” Science Agenda, Scientific American Magazine, June 2019.
5. Greenberg, Paul. “Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food,” Penquin Random House Books, London, England, June 28, 2010.
6. International Union for Conservation of Nature, “Red Lists as a Threatened Species,” United Kingdom, www.iucnredlist.org. Wikipedia, “List of Critically Endangered Fishes,” August 24, 2020.
7. Larson, Esben & Olsen, Karsten. “How many plastic bags are used each year,” The World Counts, Copenhagen, Denmark. www.theworldcounts.com. Note: We use 5 trillion plastic bags per year or 100 million tons per year with 10% in our oceans. It takes 1,000 years for a plastic bag to break down into micro bits and be digested by fish.
8. Magra, Ilana. “48 Pounds of Plastic Junk Are Found in Dead Whale,” The New York Times International, April 3, 2019.
9. Melanocetus johnsonii Humpback Devil Anglerfish, ourmarinespecies.com, & Wikipedia, Humpback Anglerish. First discovered in 1863 at bathypelagic or midnight depths ranging from 3,300-13,100 feet.
10. Petrossian, Gohar. “The Last Fish Swimming: The Global Crime of Illegal Fishing (Global Crime and Justice),” Praeger, Greenwood Group, Westport, Connecticut, May, 17, 2019.
Notes:
THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE
THE RED LIST OF THREATENED BIOLOGICAL SPECIES
RED LIST CATEGORIES
EX-EXTINCTION EW-EXTINCTION IN THE WILD CR-CRITICALLY ENDANGERED
EN-ENDANGERED VU-VULNERABLE NT-NEAR THREATENED LC-LEAST CONCERN
NOT SHOWN DD-DATA DEFICIENT