Fish catch survey data will be critical for communities to ensure food security for the future....

 

In May we conducted underwater visual surveys of fish populations in North Efate and in August we communicated to communities that the surveys show that key target species are in very low abundance and also that their average size is very small. These are classic indicators of overfishing. Therefore they need to act now! The catch surveys in the monitoring toolkit developed with and for local communities allow them to better understand what they are catching, thereby putting them in a position that allows them to control the fishing impacts in the future. The communities are trained and enthusiastic and this Experiment project helps to provide the resources needed to begin surveys immediately. The funding is not for salaries but for equipment that is very simple to most (paper, printing, pencils) however are necessary and in villages of North Efate are limiting. We are working on longer term funding solutions, however supporting this project will help ensure these resources are there so that the communities can act now! Thank you for the generous support so far - we are nearly at our goal but need more!