Once, in a small fishing village in Hawai'i there lived a wise fisherman named Will and a foolish fisherman named Phil. Every morning Will and Phil headed for their favorite fishing spot hoping to catch fish. There was a time when there were many fishes to catch, but recently they couldn't catch not a single fish. So everyday Will and Phil headed home with their empty nets and this didn't make Phil's greedy wife Jill, very happy.
One day a mysterious fish swam into Will's favorite fishing spot. It was a magic onaga and she taught Will how to become a wise fishermen and told him "If you wish to fish remember this these rules that you must heed. Take only what you truly need and don't give in to greed. And to reproduce the fish must grow, so let small fishes go. And by caring for the sea, the sea will care for you and me. If you heed these rules and don't forget, you will never be without fishes in your net." And just as mysteriously as the magic onaga appeared she soon disappeared into the sea. From that day on, Will did as the magic onaga asked and just as she promised, his net was always filled with fishes. When Jill saw all the fishes Will had caught, she sent Phil to ask Will his secret to catching fish. Of course, when Will explained his story to Phil about the magic onaga, Phil didn't believe him. When suddenly the magic onaga appeared once again, and she taught Phil the same rules to catching fish. Phil also took the magic onaga's words to heart and followed her rules. And just as she promised, everyday his net was always filled with fishes, just like Will's.
Everyday Will and Phil were sure to take only the fishes they needed and always released the small fishes and by doing so, they always had many fishes to catch. Of course, no one was happier than Phil's greedy wife Jill who spent the money as quickly as she could. In fact, she was so pleased that one day she joined Phil to his favorite fishing spot to see how he was able to catch so many fish. Phil began fishing as he always did, releasing the small fishes and those he didn't need. And Jill, being the greedy wife that she was, did not approve and demanded that they take every fish they could catch. Phil tried to explain what the magic onaga had taught him but Jill wouldn't hear such nonsense. And so Phil, being the foolish fisherman that he was, finally gave in to his greedy wife Jill and against the warnings of the magic onaga, they took all the fishes they could catch, even the really small ones. At first, they didn't notice it but as time went by there were less and less fishes. Until one day, there weren't any fishes left. As Phil and Jill looked upon their empty net, the magic onaga appeared once more and told them, "Well, I see you gave in to your greed, taking much more than you need. Populations could not grow since you did not let the small fish go. If you do not care for the precious sea, then how will it care for you and me? My simple rules you did forget, your reward, is an empty net."
And because they did not listen to the advice of the magic onaga, Phil was forced to sell everything they had and all they were left with was an empty net. While Will, the wise fisherman, always did as the magic onaga instructed, so he was rewarded with a net full of fishes everyday for the rest of his life. And the story of the Fishermen and the Magic Fish was passed along to all fishermen as a reminder of what can happen when we forget that we should take only what we need, let small fishes go so they can grow to reproduce, and to always care for the sea.
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