The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says its Reef Fish project has supported 30,000 small-scale fishers in Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles to preserve coral reef resources.
According to the FAO, climate change, reef degradation, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, sand mining, overfishing, and poaching by neighbouring countries threaten the fragile coral reef ecosystems in the countries.
Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. They protect coastlines from storms and erosion, combat climate change and provide jobs and food for local communities.
‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development’, number 14 of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Reef Fish project, according to FAO, aims to strengthen the resilience of fishing communities that depend on fishing around coral reefs in the African part of the Indian Ocean.
‘Small-scale fishing is under pressure and the reefs near the coasts show signs of overexploitation. Artisanal fishers have to navigate to more distant reefs than before, showing that reef fishing exploitation has increased over the years’, FAO said in a statement.
‘In addition, fishers have to find fish resources in deeper waters than before, as shallow commercial fish species have been fully exploited. Due to the overexploitation of fish stocks in the region, countries lose millions of dollars every year’.
In the Comoros Islands, for instance, economy and culture is deeply entwined and dependent on marine and coastal resources. In 2015, the Comoros’ annual economic output from the ocean was valued at 18 percent of its GDP, with fisheries contributing about 30 percent to the blue economy.
However, data from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) shows that ocean resources in Comoros are being overexploited, disrupting nearby ecosystems and threatening the survival of these species.
In Mauritius, more than 500 metres of coral reef are thought to have been destroyed by the MV Wakashio oil carrier ship that ran aground on shallow reefs off the southeast coast of Mauritius.
In an effort to address threats that coral reefs in the waters of Seychelles face, the country’s government, in 2021, launched policies to minimise the threats, enhance monitoring and research, build on financing, improve awareness on the value, importance and vulnerability of coral reef ecosystems.
FAO noted that the differences in the way the target countries gained off ocean resources informed the Reef Fish project activities in each of the target countries. However, the promotion of the blue economy remains the ultimate goal of the project.
‘The fisheries sectors in the target countries show different levels of development. For example, the tuna fishery and related processing industries in Seychelles form the economic backbone of the country, combined with tourism’, the statement added.
‘Fishing, tourism and sugarcane production are the most important sectors in Mauritius, while Kenya and Madagascar have a wide range of economic activities; and Comoros is the least developed country in the target area when considering the fisheries sector’.
The FAO Assistant Director-General for Africa, Abebe Haile-Gabriel, also said, ‘There are great differences in terms of activities implemented between the proposed countries due to different situations in coral reef conservation and fisheries sectors. ‘Therefore, approaches in different countries are not necessarily identical’.
Source: FAO
Photo source: UN Women
