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Mosquito nets are being widely used for fishing in poor countries around the world. The practice may be particularly unsustainable because the fine mesh of the nets means lots of juvenile fish are caught. But it’s not clear what can be done to stop it.
Handing out free or subsidised mosquito nets is one of the most effective ways to tackle malaria. However, there have been anecdotal reports of people using the nets for fishing, rather than for protection while asleep.
To find out how common this is, Rebecca Short of the Zoological Society of London asked people living in malarial areas to fill out an online survey.
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The 113 respondents reported 94 observations of mosquito net fishing around the tropics, with most coming from Africa.
“Madagascar, as an example, appears to have people fishing with these nets along much of its coastline and inland waters,” says co-author Rajina Gurung of Imperial College London.
Most reports were of people on foot using a single net. But in some instances several nets were sewn together, and the nets deployed from boats. There were also three reports of insecticides being used to kill fish before they were scooped out of the water (PLOS ONE, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191519).
It will be tricky to tackle this issue while also ensuring people are protected against malaria. “No one has a quick and easy solution,” says Short.
However, sometimes people don’t use the nets as intended simply because they don’t have a piece of string, she says. And part of the answer could be educating local communities and working with them to promote sustainable livelihoods.
Journal reference: PLOS ONE, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191519
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