Huge nets, sometimes miles long, stretch across the ocean, swallowing up everything and everyone, including turtles and terns. One type of net is a purse seine, which is drawn up and closed like a duffle bag. Purse seining for yellowfin tuna has aroused public outrage in behalf of dolphins ensnared with the tuna swimming below them. While tuna may not have Flipper's smile, they suffer, too. Underwater explosives, used to herd dolphins, cause terror and pain to the tuna as well, and the pressure waves from underwater detonation can burst a fish's swimbladder.
Trawlers drag enormous nets through the water, forcing all fish in their path into the closed end.
Perhaps the time has come to formulate a moral code which would govern our relations with the great creatures of the sea as well as with those on dry land. When hauled up from the deep, fish undergo excruciating decompression. Frequently, the intense internal pressure ruptures the swimbladder, pops out the eyes, and pushes the esophagus and stomach out through the mouth. Most suffocate or are crushed to death by fish who follow. Larger fish, such as scrod and haddock, tumble onto the deck.