Net-Works - delivering more fish, less plastic

On the current trajectory of plastic pollution and overfishing there will be one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish in the ocean by 2025. The people most affected are those in marginalised rural communities within... [ view full abstract ]

On the current trajectory of plastic pollution and overfishing there will be one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish in the ocean by 2025. The people most affected are those in marginalised rural communities within biodiversity hotspots of the developing world, especially in Southeast Asia which contributes >60% of the world’s marine debris, is the centre of marine biodiversity, contains 55% of the global population of artisanal reef fishers and suffers the highest level of fishing pressure.

Community-based Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) with No-Take Zones (NTZs) and mangrove rehabilitation areas are key tools for restoring coastal ecosystems and enhancing socio-ecological resilience. There are >1,500 MPAs in the Philippines (NTZs average 12ha) that are often too small to be effective due to high dependence of communities on fishing. They typically focus on coral reefs and do not capture critical seagrasses or mangroves, and are too dependent on donor funding cycles. 

In this presentation we describe a simple, scalable and holistic model that delivers less plastic, more fish and improves the lives of marginalised coastal communities across Southeast Asia. By creating efficient community-based supply chains around aquaculture and recycling of fishing nets and linking them to conservation actions, we are able to increase the average size of NTZs to over 200ha, whilst also breaking the cycle of boom and bust that comes from an over-dependence on donor funding. We will discuss our learnings from implementing this model, results to date, and areas for future development.