Conservationists urge proper fishing to protect Mida Creek

A conservation group in Watamu has launched a campaign to sensitise the community within the marine park and Mida Creek on protecting the ecosystem.

Arocha Kenya, which has been in the forefront in conserving the Mida creek and Arabuko Sokoke forest, organised a fishing competition to enlighten local fishermen on proper fishing methods so they can get an income without harming sea life.

Reports indicate some marine species such as sharks, stingrays and guitarfish are threatened due to bad fishing methods.

Eight fishermen from all the landing sites within the creek participated using canoes.

Arocha Kenya education officer Queen Elizabeth said they have also been doing awareness campaigns together with Kenya Wildlife Service in schools and the community.

She said they want the community to be aware that conservation pays.

“As we go around and create awareness among the community, we let them know the importance of these species, so we organized a community event and our winner’s name tag is Shark,” Elizabeth said.

Apart from creating awareness, she said they want to support fishing as most of people don’t know what fishermen go through in the ocean while doing their work.

Their plan is to make the competition an annual event to also raise the profile of Watamu Marine National Park.

Elizabeth called on all conservationists and lovers of environment to join hands to conserve Mida Creek and the national reserve.

She said they have training sessions for schools, colleges and universities and called on all learning institutionsto take advantage of the marine programmes.

Apart from sensitisation,she said the event was also an opportunity to market the Mida Creek, which is a major tourist attraction.

Visitors come for bird watching, boardwalk, mangrove watch, canoe rides and other excursions.

Sadam Pande, the chairman of Mida Creek Conservation and Awareness Group, which has 30 members, said their group works mainly on ecotourism and conservation of the creek.

They have a restaurant that specialises on sea food for local and foregin tourists.

“We are happy today Arocha Kenya has organised a fishing competition here. It’s the first time they organised such an event and it's helping create awareness on proper methods of fishing," he said.

He called on people from all over Kenya and the world to visit Mida Creek where they can enjoy a wide range of activities including a tour of the Garden of Eden, a popular attraction.

Daniel Kazungu, who works for Arocha Kenya, said the competition would motivate fishermen on how to get money from fishing.

He said they will learn how to use proper fishing gear. "Most people here depend on fishing and ecotourism including canoe riding, bird watching and all that we do so as to conserve the creek," he said.

Edited by Henry Makori