In Mida Creek in Watamu the CBO Bahari Hai is working on a fish gear exchange program to decrease the catch of juvenile fish and turtles. Mida Creek houses a vast mangrove forest, which is an important land and marine ecosystem and a strong contributor to a healthy coral reef. Many reef fish find refuge in these ecosystems when they are young, including sharks and rays. Since we are very involved in shark & ray conservation, it was a logical step to join the experienced team of Bahari Hai to conserve the creek.
At the moment the Mida Creek fishermen are using a lot of (illegal) small mesh size fishing nets e.g. monofilament nets. These nets catch literally everything that comes along, from big fish to small, from turtles to sharks. Changing the mesh size into 3” up to 8” is important to prevent juveniles to be caught and the threatened shark and ray population. It’s been proven that mesh sizes above 8” will catch sharks and rays. Our aim is therefore to stay within the 3-8” threshold.
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