Simon Pierce, MMF Co-founder and Principal Scientist. “The Mozambican coast is an internationally important habitat for whale sharks, the world’s largest fish,” said Dr. More recent data highlights the declines of more than 90% for giant mantas, reef mantas, and shortfin devil rays in the south of Mozambique. In 2013 a 79% decline in whale shark sightings and an 88% decline in reef manta sightings was reported, trends which are continuing. Throughout the years the MMF has captured data showing the dramatic declines in observational sightings of marine megafauna like manta rays, mobula rays, and whale sharks. “This will help us achieve our goal of sustainable fishing for generations to come, so we can both conserve our incredible fish life and allow people to have a stable livelihood and food source.” “This law will make it far easier for our fishing communities to manage their impact by empowering them to create no-take zones and enforce rules limiting the use of gear that is destructive to important coral reef and mangrove habitats,” said MMF Conservation Project Manager Emerson Neves. Stephanie Venables, illustrated the economic impact of manta ray tourism in the Inhambane province, including $34 million USD per year of direct economic impact of manta ray tourism, and a projected yearly loss of $16-$25 million USD if Mozambique were to lose manta rays. The study, lead-authored by MMF senior scientist Dr. The MMF has also estimated the economic values of manta rays and other megafauna for the tourism industry. Additionally, the MMF’s research on whale sharks and building human pressures in this region, such as by-catch in gillnets, which has halved their global population since the 1980s, helped to support their inclusion in the new law. In that time the MMF conducted the first formal studies of manta rays in Africa and discovered that they are in fact two separate species. The new legislation is the result of decades of work by the MMF and numerous other NGOs and institutions highlighting the necessity of protections for endangered marine life in this region. The use of turtle excluder devices are also now compulsory on industrial and semi-industrial nets. There is a ban on destructive fishing practices on coral, seagrass, or mangroves and on the harvesting of live coral. For example, fishers now must land the full body of any sharks caught with fins attached and by-catch must be thrown back unless the fisher has prior written permission to use it for research. In addition to the protection of the aforementioned species, new regulations have also been included. Andrea Marshall, “making it a critical region for their conservation in the Western Indian Ocean.” “The largest identified populations of both reef and giant manta rays in Africa have been identified off the southern Mozambican coastline,” said MMF Co-founder and Principal Scientist, Dr. This victory comes after 20 years of research and lobbying efforts by the Marine Megafauna Foundation ( MMF). A new commercial fishing law passed in Mozambique enacts protections for several threatened species, including whale sharks, manta rays, and all mobula species. The new legislation went into effect on January 8th.
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