By Marla Lise
We had the opportunity to interview entrepreneur, Mr. Davy Ong, co-founder of Lure Haven, an avid angler, and lure fanatic. Davy founded Lure Haven in 2004 due to his passion for using lures to catch fish. At the young age of 7, Davy was already following his mother on boats, island hopping around Singapore, and buying fish from kelongs.
At the age of 12, he started to fish on his own. His love for nature and fishing followed him to Sri Lanka, where he went to school at the age of 15 years old and that is where he fell in love with lures.
Most boys that age would be playing football or video games, but Davy could be found by the water after school, rod and lures in hand. He was fascinated by why plastic or wood can fool fish. “You need to have a better understanding of the fish – tricking a fish into eating something that is artificial – that is what intrigues me”, he says.
30 years later, Davy is still a lure advocate. He says that patience and perseverance are the true traits of a luring angler. It’s a steep learning curve, figuring out why you are not catching the fish, understanding the weather, and choosing different tides in order to finally get a catch. He says that he is still learning and that “The game is evolving every time – especially with climate change”.
Due to his understanding of climate change and desire to learn more about conservation, Davy decided to join Marine Stewards in 2019. “Nature can provide you more than the fish, nature can provide you serenity, peace”, according to Davy. With these values in mind, Davy is relieved to see that more and more anglers of every kind are starting to practice ‘catch and release’ techniques. He is also hopeful that this will soon be a norm, giving rise to a healthier population of fish in our seas.
Catch and release techniques allow fish species to continue to breed. Once smaller fish are caught and removed from the marine ecosystems, the bigger fish have nothing to eat and will move to different places to find food. Every species has its part to play in the food web, and once they are removed, disastrous impacts may occur, ones we might not even imagine.
According to Davy, lurers stand a higher chance of catch and release because they are less likely to “gut hook” a fish, and therefore the survival rate of the fish is higher. They are also more likely to be the anglers who are just fishing for sport, rather than for food.
In closing, Davy reminds us that we have to do our part for the environment and for our future generations. “If we don’t practice catch and release now we won’t have fishing in the future.”
About Marine Stewards
Marine Stewards is a non-profit whose mission is to promote a healthy fishing culture through sustainable fishing guidelines, education, and outreach.
Volunteer: We welcome all volunteers, email hello@marinestewards.org
About the author:
Marla is an ocean lover with a passion for marine conservation
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