A Tour of Unloved Fishes

Several villages are establishing no-take zones, or tengefus, to address issues of overfishing, allowing fish to repopulate. With the help of several local organizations and government authorities, there are currently 22 tengefus in various stages of development across the country.

The world's oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is a positive thing in the face of climate change for those living on land, but can harm the animals that rely on certain acidification levels of ocean waters. When it became apparent off the coasts of Oregon and Washington that oysters and other sea life with a shell or a skeleton were suffering the ramifications, researchers created a sensor that could detect acidification levels that could warn oyster growers of potentially harmful areas.

Through a co-management system, which has successfully rehabilitated degraded watersheds, the 2015 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes-Montana Water Rights Compact has restored tribal sovereignty over their waters. This has brought bull trout back to their native streams and reconnected tribal members to traditional lifeways while maintaining water access for existing agricultural users.

The nonprofit Myanmar Ocean Project is working to raise awareness of and remove ghost gear, abandoned fishing gear that kills marine life, from the country’s waters. Volunteer drivers remove the gear from the water and create public awareness campaigns.

Seeking to protect the endangered vaquita, a charity in San Felipe, Mexico, is encouraging fishers who poach totoaba, another endangered species, to swap their gillnets for cimbra. The hook-and-line style fishing equipment allows them to target totoaba that are worth more, meaning they can catch less while making the same or more income and keep other species out of the often harmful nets.

Nonprofits and coastal communities are popularizing sustainable fishing practices and fishery management to allow ocean ecosystems to bounce back from overfishing and sustain the fishing industry long-term. For example, a community-led organization in Scotland campaigned to create the country’s first “No Take Zone” marine reserve, and a nonprofit in Hawaii is restoring fishponds to revive traditional Hawaiian aquaculture.

A family of former fishers created the Kino Bay Turtle Group to monitor sea turtles in Mexico’s La Cruz Lagoon. The conservationists work to rescue and tag turtles entangled in fishing gear, track the population, and educate the public about their importance.

The Rwandan government bans fishing on Lake Kivu during August and September for what they call a “Biological Break.” They pause fishing when the climate is best for fish reproduction and growth to ensure the fish population remains stable.

Restaurants in the Cayman Islands are hosting lion-fish catching tournaments and then cooking and serving the invasive species to reduce their population.

The Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary, created with input and buy-in from local fishers, manages and maintains coastal fisheries by employing fishers, captains, coral gardeners, supervisors, managers, and board members. The crew runs educational programs, has planted 18,000 corals and released over 20,000 sea turtles every year, established a sea urchin nursery, and patrols sanctuary borders waters to ensure compliance with the sanctuary policies. The Sanctuary generates enough money to employ 18 people, creating a loop where nature helps support those who nurture it.