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Working along the Indian Ocean and with fishers and various stakeholders has
led to the realisation that one of the problems in most fishing communities
is the gear that the fishers use. In Vilanculos, Mozambique, like some
places in the Western Indian Ocean, the use of mosquito nets for fishing has
come out as one of the problems that is difficult to deal with. The fishers
were given these mosquito nets through various donor projects - all in the
hope to reduce the rate of the malaria infections in these areas but it
would seem that more often than not, the fishers use these for fishing and
not their intended purposes. A solution devised for one problem has created
another problem in these communities. It's difficult to say whether the
donors are wrong for I am sure their intentions are good but maybe there is
need for them to follow up on what has become of these mosquito nets. One
problem is obviously that the mosquito nets used in these areas are rather
too strong, the material used is a special durable material that lasts for
five year (distributed by the Pragramma Nacional de Controlo da Malaria
(PNCM) - this is specific for Vilanculos) and does not disintegrate in
water. There are two points that come to mind here, firstly that the fishers
catch juvenile fish with the mosquito nets and secondly they use the nets to
catch prawns - juveniles as well. This does not only disrupt the food chain
(with less food for the fish) but also disrupts the population dynamics of
the fish populations in some areas and some studies indicate that some
genetic make-up of some populations resulting in some species reproducing at
an early age and resultantly reducing the "reproductive efficiency" of that
population.
In any case, the complexity of the problem has more reparations than what
can easily be seen. The solution is a unknown to me, but maybe the DLIST
community has some ideas on how such a complex problem can be solved. |
I may want to add that I also witnessed heavy use of mosquito nettings in Zanzibar, particularly in the village of Mkokotoni and in the southern part of Tumbatu island.
Martin Torresquintero
MT Mountain Guiding
PO Box 2986
New Haven, CT 06515
mtclimbs@snet.net
203.752.1191
On Feb 25, 2010, at 6:24 AM, zvikomborero tangawamira wrote:
Working along the Indian Ocean and with fishers and various stakeholders has
led to the realisation that one of the problems in most fishing communities
is the gear that the fishers use. In Vilanculos, Mozambique, like some
places in the Western Indian Ocean, the use of mosquito nets for fishing has
come out as one of the problems that is difficult to deal with. The fishers
were given these mosquito nets through various donor projects - all in the
hope to reduce the rate of the malaria infections in these areas but it
would seem that more often than not, the fishers use these for fishing and
not their intended purposes. A solution devised for one problem has created
another problem in these communities. It's difficult to say whether the
donors are wrong for I am sure their intentions are good but maybe there is
need for them to follow up on what has become of these mosquito nets. One
problem is obviously that the mosquito nets used in these areas are rather
too strong, the material used is a special durable material that lasts for
five year (distributed by the Pragramma Nacional de Controlo da Malaria
(PNCM) - this is specific for Vilanculos) and does not disintegrate in
water. There are two points that come to mind here, firstly that the fishers
catch juvenile fish with the mosquito nets and secondly they use the nets to
catch prawns - juveniles as well. This does not only disrupt the food chain
(with less food for the fish) but also disrupts the population dynamics of
the fish populations in some areas and some studies indicate that some
genetic make-up of some populations resulting in some species reproducing at
an early age and resultantly reducing the "reproductive efficiency" of that
population.
In any case, the complexity of the problem has more reparations than what
can easily be seen. The solution is a unknown to me, but maybe the DLIST
community has some ideas on how such a complex problem can be solved.
|
It is interesting to note that some mosquito nets are strong enough to be
used in fishing. I suggest affected parties government policies and
legislation are studied. If lacking substance then the problem has to be
tackle at the policy level. Even in most countries in West Africa,
policies prevent fishing during breeding periods.
> Working along the Indian Ocean and with fishers and various stakeholders
> has
> led to the realisation that one of the problems in most fishing
> communities
> is the gear that the fishers use. In Vilanculos, Mozambique, like some
> places in the Western Indian Ocean, the use of mosquito nets for fishing
> has
> come out as one of the problems that is difficult to deal with. The
> fishers
> were given these mosquito nets through various donor projects - all in the
> hope to reduce the rate of the malaria infections in these areas but it
> would seem that more often than not, the fishers use these for fishing and
> not their intended purposes. A solution devised for one problem has
> created
> another problem in these communities. It's difficult to say whether the
> donors are wrong for I am sure their intentions are good but maybe there
> is
> need for them to follow up on what has become of these mosquito nets. One
> problem is obviously that the mosquito nets used in these areas are rather
> too strong, the material used is a special durable material that lasts for
> five year (distributed by the Pragramma Nacional de Controlo da Malaria
> (PNCM) - this is specific for Vilanculos) and does not disintegrate in
> water. There are two points that come to mind here, firstly that the
> fishers
> catch juvenile fish with the mosquito nets and secondly they use the nets
> to
> catch prawns - juveniles as well. This does not only disrupt the food
> chain
> (with less food for the fish) but also disrupts the population dynamics of
> the fish populations in some areas and some studies indicate that some
> genetic make-up of some populations resulting in some species reproducing
> at
> an early age and resultantly reducing the "reproductive efficiency" of
> that
> population.
>
>
>
> In any case, the complexity of the problem has more reparations than what
> can easily be seen. The solution is a unknown to me, but maybe the DLIST
> community has some ideas on how such a complex problem can be solved. |
Forgive me for being pessimistic (realistic?) but tackling the problem of mosquito nets being used for fishing at a "policy level" in most African countries is idealistic to the point of laugh-ability. Policies in most African countries (and frankly most countries globally) are worth little more than the paper that they are written on.
Why not simply make the more obvious conclusion that it is likely that mosquito nets, if freely or cheaply supplied, will be used for unintended purposes?
This raises a more macro-level problem that many development projects fail to confront. Short term solutions, i.e. giving mosquito nets to prevent malaria, often conflict with or replace long-term goals, i.e providing coastal people with alternative livelihoods that minimize the possibility that fishing with mosquito nets will be an attractive means of sustenance.
Band aids (or plasters if you are of a British persuasion) may stop the bleeding, but if the wound is big enough, they only delay, not prevent, death. |
What Justin says is very true. In Mozambique, there are laws that prevent
fishers from fishing with mosquito nets, or small size nets. When we spoke
to one of the people in charge of giving out fishing licences, he said that
they give a fishing licence depending on the type of fishing gear that the
fishers propose to use, and they have restrictions on the net sizes etc but
in reality the fishers go out and fish with other type of fishing gear.
Implementation of the policies in place is obviously a huge problem.
We asked one fisherman why they use the "illegal nets" and his response was
that the "legal nets" are too expensive and they cannot afford them or
afford to maintain them so they use what they can find CHEAPLY!
The development projects that give out mosquito nets to prevent malaria
somehow need to take responsibility for this problem and find ways to
solving the malaria problem without creating a greater and compounded
problem. Finding alternative livelihoods for the communities in my opinion
is a good solution - it tackles the REAL problem and not just symptoms of
the problem. The question is always - what can the coastal communities do
that will sustain them and that can pull them away from an activity they
have mastered over their lifetime?
-----Original Message-----
From: Justin Kraus [mailto:justin_kraus@hotmail.com]
Sent: 04 March 2010 09:54 AM
To: General Discussion
Subject: Re: [DLIST Discuss] Re: The use of mosquito nets for fishing
Forgive me for being pessimistic (realistic?) but tackling the problem of
mosquito nets being used for fishing at a "policy level" in most African
countries is idealistic to the point of laugh-ability. Policies in most
African countries (and frankly most countries globally) are worth little
more than the paper that they are written on.
Why not simply make the more obvious conclusion that it is likely that
mosquito nets, if freely or cheaply supplied, will be used for unintended
purposes?
This raises a more macro-level problem that many development projects fail
to confront. Short term solutions, i.e. giving mosquito nets to prevent
malaria, often conflict with or replace long-term goals, i.e providing
coastal people with alternative livelihoods that minimize the possibility
that fishing with mosquito nets will be an attractive means of sustenance.
Band aids (or plasters if you are of a British persuasion) may stop the
bleeding, but if the wound is big enough, they only delay, not prevent,
death. |
To add to the discussion, a similar situation is also reported to be taking
place in Caprivi region and other northern regions of Namibia. The mosquito
nets being used here are provided by the government of the day through its
agencies. As the two contributors stated in their postings below, the
development projects, if they can be called that given the fact that they
don't do anything other than distribute mosquito nets it seems. Any program
that is aimed to address develop issues in rural communities including
disease prevention should be packaged to address the myriads of problems the
targeted group face on a daily basis.
One of those problems these communities face daily is the shortage of basics
such as food, equipments (fishing gear, gardening tools etc) and those needs
have to be addressed first before their secondary but yet equally important
needs such mosquito nets etc.
The programs should be tailored in such a way that they address the
short-term needs and yet be sustainable over the long-term.
But those are just my opinions
-----Original Message-----
From: zvikomborero tangawamira [mailto:zvi@ecoafrica.co.za]
Sent: Thursday, March 04, 2010 2:43 PM
To: 'General Discussion'
Subject: Re: [DLIST Discuss] The use of mosquito nets for fishing
What Justin says is very true. In Mozambique, there are laws that prevent
fishers from fishing with mosquito nets, or small size nets. When we spoke
to one of the people in charge of giving out fishing licences, he said that
they give a fishing licence depending on the type of fishing gear that the
fishers propose to use, and they have restrictions on the net sizes etc but
in reality the fishers go out and fish with other type of fishing gear.
Implementation of the policies in place is obviously a huge problem.
We asked one fisherman why they use the "illegal nets" and his response was
that the "legal nets" are too expensive and they cannot afford them or
afford to maintain them so they use what they can find CHEAPLY!
The development projects that give out mosquito nets to prevent malaria
somehow need to take responsibility for this problem and find ways to
solving the malaria problem without creating a greater and compounded
problem. Finding alternative livelihoods for the communities in my opinion
is a good solution - it tackles the REAL problem and not just symptoms of
the problem. The question is always - what can the coastal communities do
that will sustain them and that can pull them away from an activity they
have mastered over their lifetime?
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