V2V PHOTO OF THE WEEK 2023
V2V Photo of the Week: May 31, 2023
This photo was captured at Kutubjom Union of Moheshkhali Upazila, which is located in the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh. It profiles Md. Shahjahan, a local fisherman, who has been fishing for the past 16 years. He went fishing for the first time when his father got severely injured and sick during cyclone ‘SIDR’ in November 2007. Since then, fishing has been his way of earning livelihoods. He does not go into the deep sea for fishing and instead he mostly stay around the edges of the sea. For fishing in the deep sea, one would need a bigger boat or go on someone else's boat, but neither one of these is worth taking the risk as for a bigger boat he may need to take loan from ‘Mohajon’ (Mohajon are traditional money lenders who provide loan to fishers to buy or mend their boats, nets and other accessories for fishing). As he does not enter the deep ocean, the fishing trip usually takes 5-6 hours per day. He sets the 'fishing net' in poles in the morning and then come ashore. Either in the afternoons or sometimes at night, he goes back there to check for fish that got caught in the meantime. He collects the fish and sets the fishing nets again for the next day. According to this fisherman, the way of livelihood has changed due to the effects of climate change and it is no longer possible to catch fish in the river for a long time. Many times, they had lost their nets and boats in storms. As a result of climate change, fishermen like Shahjahan in this area are facing various challenges but no special programs have been introduced for them to build their resilience in the long run. The fear of a bigger crisis constantly looms over them.
Photo credit and Contributor: Md. Emon Rahman, 2023
V2V Photo of the Week: May 24, 2023
The pictures was taken at the fishing community of Hann in Senagal using a drone with camera. It shows the resettlement site beside the Hann Bay cluttered with fish workers and their equipment. As seen in the photo, the erosion would not allow the workers to stay longer in this location, especially during the rainy season when the sea is rough. The site represents a case where displacement of hundreds of people, who usually work on the artisanal fishing wharf in the community of Hann, due to the construction of the refrigeration complex in the place where the community used to conduct their post-harvest activities earlier. Previously, this resettlement site was the landing site of the Hann fishing community and was roughly laid out but had a hard slab platform, covered by a roof, where pelagic fish (which represent 80% of the annual catch) were unloaded. Around this historical SSF port, various people outside the fishing world were active in their daily subsistence. This is the case for all activities directly and/or indirectly linked to artisanal fishing. However, since the beginning of the construction of the refrigeration complex, there has been a significant drop in the number of people present on the site. Once the harbor was appropriated, even the lorries that carried fish from Hann to rural areas in the interior of the country have no more space to park. Indeed, after relocating the users from the traditional quay, the authorities have assigned them another site that is not at all attractive for three reasons. Firstly, this resettlement site is part of the coastline that is most impacted by erosion. Secondly, it is a site traditionally considered a niche for criminals. Finally, this site is adjacent to the infamous Canal 6 in Senegal, which drains the most toxic solid and liquid waste from the capital Dakar into Hann Bay. The biggest victims of this inconvenience and injustice are the women who find it impossible to conduct their post-harvest fishing activities in the absence of access to the coastline. Important to mention that all or most of the post-harvest fish processing and micro-trading take place right on the beach and are the main activities undertaken by women.
Photo credit: Seynabou Sall, 2023
Contributor: Aliou Sall
V2V Photo of the Week: May 10, 2023
This photo was taken in Mirzapur village, Satapada, Chilika lagoon, Bay of Bengal, Odisha, India. It shows empty tourist boats on the shores of Chilika Lagoon waiting for tourists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic had unprecedented impacts on small-scale fisheries-based livelihoods in Chilika. The imposition of stringent lockdown measures coupled with a fishing ban during the pandemic and had left the marginalized fisher communities highly vulnerable for a substantial period of time. Eco-tourism, an important source of livelihood for the local communities, was severely affected during the pandemic.
Photo credit and Contributor: Janmejaya Mishra, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: May 10, 2023
The photo was taken in Lagos state, Nigeria. It shows a fish smoker (Mrs. Suliya Rasheed), a fisherman (Mr. Jehoshaphat Yomepe), and the director of the Department of Fisheries, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (Mrs. Daisi Osunkoya) posing beside a prototype drum kiln that is fabricated by ID57 project team to primarily smoke and dry fish. The prototype is a 20-liter insulated drum kiln that is primarily intended to use biomass briquettes as an energy source, with charcoal as an alternative. It has four wire mesh trays, each of which can hold 5 kilograms of fish. Construction materials are locally sourced or available and relatively inexpensive. The prototype has a thermometer, and the components are relatively detachable, easy to maintain, and portable. It is versatile enough to smoke goat, chicken, mushrooms, crayfish, and other foods. Additional benefits include aesthetics, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness for low-income fish smokers. Click here to read more about this project.
Fish processing is a female-centric occupation dominated by traditional smoke-drying technologies that exhibit occupational hazards and fuel inefficiencies. Among fish processors in the small-scale fisheries sector, there has been limited success in introducing home-grown technologies for adoption. Campaigns against using firewood and switching to charcoal have not been successful. Barriers to the adoption of improved fish smoking practices and sustainable energy use are influenced by cultural biases, and socio-economic and psychological factors. Additionally, the energy crisis has added another barrier to the adoption of charcoal due to increasing costs. Based on the identified challenges, this project adopted a transdisciplinary approach to conducting surveys and training workshops with fish processors, fishers, and other stakeholders to design a modernized fish dryer prototype and to evaluate the adoption of alternative biomass sources (e.g., recycling water hyacinth, agricultural wastes) for fuel.
Photo credit: Project ID 57 Research Team of the Gendered Design in Science, Technology Engineering Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) for Low-Middle Income (LMIC) project (2020-2022), 2022
Contributor: Kafayat Adetoun Fakoya
V2V Photo of the Week: May 03, 2023
This photo was captured in Klidang Lor village, Batang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. Klidang Lor village embraces one of the largest small-scale fishing communities in Batang Regency. The photo shows fishing equipment in the middle of the inspection and preparation stage during the day as small-scale fishers are getting ready to go out to sea at night. Fishers repair their gears before their voyage and stock necessary equipment and supply of groceries to use on their boats. The most common fishing gear used by fishers of this region is Jaring Tarik Berkantong (JTB), which is considered a more eco-friendly net compared to cantrang (the Indonesian term for seine net). Seine fishing uses wide nets weighted down to the seabed to scoop up large volumes of fish and its net typically has a 2.5-centimeter (1-inch) mesh size while the mesh size of JTB is required to be at least 5 cm (2 in).
Photo credit & Contributor: Arisanti Ayu Wardhani, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: April 26, 2023
This photo was captured in Miemia town in the Western Region of Ghana. It shows the result of coastal flooding, erosion, and sand harvesting that have destroyed properties and infrastructure of coastal communities as a result of severe storms. The main activities of the towns around involve mainly fishing and salt mining activities. This flood usually happens once a year however, in 2021, it happened about 3 times in the communities around, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people. The flooding stops people involved in fishing activities from going to work while destroying their properties and infrastructure and, eventually, affected their livelihood tremendously. Ghana’s government is responding to the growing crisis by fortifying some coastal areas with seawalls, but researchers say relying on seawalls alone may do more harm than good.
Photo credit: Richard Adade, Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience, 2021
Contributor: Chineboaba Araba Afful
V2V Photo of the Week: April 19, 2023
These photos were captured in Inatori, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The left photo shows a Japanese young Kinme (Splendid Alfonsino) fisher (the 29-year-old Yuto Uchiyama) and his family’s newly started fishing tour business on their Kinme fishing cruise boat. This is an excellent Umigyo* activity and an effective way for the fishing communities to transit from one V (vulnerability) to another V (viability). This can be seen from the following words by Uchiyama which is full of pride and dreams: “The best thing is that customers can see the wonderful view of the Izu Peninsula from the sea. There are many people who experience fishing boats for the first time (right photo), and I am happy that they enjoy it. I find it rewarding to let people know that fishers don’t just catch fish, we can do many other things. I think it's great for us to be able to work during our off times (Feb 1, 2023).”
The word “Umigyo” is a combination of the Japanese words “sea (海) ” and “source of living (業)” and refers to a series of economic activities carried out by fishing communities or fishers’ organizations for meeting diverse needs from the marine and coastal resources. The word “fishing” in Japanese is a combination of “fishing (漁)” and “source of living (業)” and refers to a series of economic activities that utilize community resources, including aquatic resources, natural resources, cultural and historical resources, etc. for professional and lifestyle purposes and not the for recreational purposes.
Photo credit: Inanimaru, 2020
Contributor: Yinji Li
V2V Photo of the Week: April 12, 2023
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This photo was captured at Mposa beach (Mapira beach) on the shores of Lake Chilwa, Malawi. The photo shows a planked boat beside 'shed-like' structures that serve different purposes for small-scale fishers. They have been constructed by fishers to provide shelter during hot or rainy weather. Some fishers do trade in them and some cook, eat, and rest in them to save the time they would spend commuting between the beach and home. These structures can also serve as temporary storage space for fishing and trading equipment.
Photo credit and Contributor: Vannessa Warren, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: April 05, 2023
This photo was taken in Gulf of Asinara (Golfo dell'Asinara), Sardinia, Italy. It shows "nassa", a fishing gear mainly used to capture octopus. The first nassas were made of dried rush weed, and the making process has been considered an art that gets passed from one generation to another. The nassa in the picture is the type used today by small-scale fishers and is made with plastics. While the plastic nassa is comparatively cheaper, readily available, and durable, some fishers still prefer the traditional version as it would be less harmful to the environment if they lose it at sea.
Photo credit and Contributor: Maria Bernadette Battaglia, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: March 29, 2023
This photo was taken at the shore of Dionwar in Senegal. It shows a biological shellfish sampling technique practiced before the harvest by women, the main actors in seafood harvesting. It assesses the quantity and weight of mollusks found on the mudflats. The technique is performed at low tides with the help of dials (wooden instruments). Once dials are placed, they have what is called "a plot". This technique determines the quantity and weight of the resources harvested for each plot (square or rectangle). This technique allows the harvester to make an extrapolation (knowing the amount they are going to harvest for a small surface of the plot) and to know how much they will get when they are going to harvest when covering a defined area (1 ha, for example).
Photo credit: Dr. Alassane Sarr, Director of Institutes for fisheries and Aquaculture (IUPA /UCAD), 2022
Contributor: Khady Yama Sarr
V2V Photo of the Week: March 22, 2023
The photo was captured in the Perhentian Islands, which are part of a no-take marine protected area (MPA) within the Terengganu state in Malaysia. Being a part of a no-take zone (NTZ) in an MPA means that direct human disturbance, such as fishing and extraction of natural materials (e.g., collecting coral or removing marine life), dumping, and dredging or construction activities are strictly prohibited, while a variety of non-extractive uses (e.g., like snorkeling, diving, and boating) are permitted. The photo shows chalets on the island that are built due to the tourism industry that has flourished in the marine park of Perhentian islands over the past two decades. This growth of tourism in the MPAs has brought many economic benefits and opportunities to the local people. Nevertheless, the NTZs caused much hardship for small-scale fishers by depriving them of the means to make a living. Even greater difficulty is created during the monsoon season when strong winds and heavy rain make it unsafe for fishing in the open sea. Although the main objective of the MPAs is to conserve marine resources, it is equally important not to neglect their social, cultural and economic impacts on the local community.
Fishing has been the only source of income and food for the artisanal fishers in the offshore islands of Peninsular Malaysia for generations. Their traditional fishing grounds were the waters surrounding islands, where coral reefs provide sheltered habitats for fish and other marine resources to feed, breed and grow. Following the 1994 establishment of no-take MPAs, fishing is banned for a distance of up to two nautical miles from the shore of the MPA islands. The Department of Marine Park have imposed a set of rules and regulations to protect and conserve marine biodiversity. However, the fishing restrictions in the MPAs has made a serious adverse effect on the livelihoods of fishing households. The traditional fishers are not capable of fishing beyond two nautical miles with their small fishing boats and traditional gears. The local fishers are among the poorest and most marginalized groups in the country.
Photo credit and Contributor: Gazi Md Nurul Islam, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: March 15, 2023
This photo was taken one morning at Ouémé River, which is located in Bétérou town, Borgou Department of central Benin. The photo shows a small-scale fisher collecting his gillnet that was placed in the water overnight. A gillnet is a wall of netting that hangs in the water column, typically made of monofilament or multifilament nylon. Mesh sizes in gillnets are designed to allow fish to get only their head through the netting but not their body. The fish's gills then get caught in the mesh as the fish tries to back out of the net.
Photo credit and Contributor: Edéya Orobiyi Rodrigue Pèlèbè, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: March 08, 2023
This photo shows Ama (The Freediving Fisherwomen of Japan) of the seaweed fishery in the Inatori community, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Ama (meaning “women of the sea” in Japanese) are Japanese divers that make a living from the ocean collecting seaweed, shellfish, lobster, octopus, sea urchins, pearls, and abalone to sell at the market. Once there were thousands of Ama divers across Japan. But their numbers are fast falling as the newer generation of women is shunning away from the profession of their mothers. According to a 2010 survey, there are only around two thousand Ama divers left in the nation. Most of them live around Toba and Shima in the Mie prefecture, where there is a cultured pearl firm.
Japan’s Ama divers are known as one of the earliest freediving cultures on earth. During Japan's Heian period (794 to 1185 AD), Ama were known to dive for seafood and were honored with the task of retrieving abalone for shrines and imperial emperors. Traditionally, the Ama dove wearing only a fundoshi (loincloth - all-white sheer diving uniform) and a tenugi (bandana) to cover their hair to ease movement in the water. While diving and it was believed to ward off sharks. They tied a rope around their waists that would connect them to the boat or a wooden barrel (used as a buoy). A rope attaching them to a boat or battel would help them to find their way to the surface of the water, rest and catch their breath between dives. The tradition is still maintained across many coastal parts of Japan and some have embraced modern technology such as black wetsuits and flippers.
Ama work in multiple shifts, spending a total of about two hours a day underwater. Between shifts, they spend time on the beach warming up under the sun or by a fire. Local fishing regulations require them to work no more than 4 hours a day, but in the past, Ama divers spent as many as 6-8 hours in the water every day. Girls born into Ama families start training when they are only a few years old. They learn the skills from their mothers and other elder women in the family. By the time they reach 14, they are usually ready to dive. Ama uses a unique breathing technique called the Isobue or “sea whistle”. The Isobue is used to relax the Ama during their surface intervals, which are very short, typically less than 60 seconds. The whistle is a long and slow exhalation. Ama equalize hands-free via ‘Beance Tubaire Volontaire’ BTV maneuver as their masks do not feature the flexible nose pocket.
Photo credit: Inatori Branch of Izu Fisheries Cooperative Association (FCA)
Contributor: AmusingPlanet & Yinji Li
V2V Photo of the Week: March 01, 2023
This photo was taken in Kumirmari village located in Indian Sundarbans, West Bengal, India. It shows a local inland fisher catching fish from his domestic pond. Fishing is conducted by the inland fishers of Indian Sundarbans on a regular basis in their privately owned ponds. Most of the villagers in Kumirmari village own ponds where they conduct inland aquaculture mostly to meet their domestic food needs. These fishing households legally own these ponds. Fishers can also fish in some canals managed by informal cooperatives that are owned by local panchayats (village-governing institution). Inland fishing is technically and visibly much different from deep sea fishing because it does not involve the use of large boats and specialized fishing gears. Further, the process of culturing, harvesting, and marketing is managed by the fisher only. It is also operated comparatively on a smaller scale than deep-sea fishing and has a different set of challenges and opportunities. Please find further details here.
Photo credit and Contributor: Souradip Pathak, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: February 22, 2023
This photo was taken in the early morning of Struisbaai Harbour, located on the Cape West Coast of South Africa. It shows small-scale fishers catching fish in the Indian Ocean. Struisbaai is known worldwide for its seasonal yellowtail and as the summer season starts, fishers from all other places gather in Struisbaai to mostly catch yellowtail. About 230 small scale-fishers are living in Struisbaa village. The local fishers do not have a problem with small-scale fishers of other areas coming to fish in the area. The problem lies with the approximately 200 recreational fishing boats that use the same slipway during the peak season that small-scale fishers use. They have faster and more powerful boats, which means that they get to the fishing areas faster and catch most of the fish before the local fishers can even reach there with their smaller diesel-powered boats (locally called chukkies). This is one of the several challenges the local small-scale fishers of Struisbaai face.
Photo credit and Contributor: Tracey Lee Dennis, 2023
V2V Photo of the Week: February 15, 2023
These photo were captured in Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The left photo shows Futoshi Aizawa, an owner of a family-based small-scale fishing business, answering a TV show (Kyodo Television) interview. He is a 3rd generation of Nori-seaweed fisher while there are only eleven Nori fishing households left in this community after the Great East Earthquake (2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami) disaster. In his interview, he mentioned, "We can't afford to sit idly by. There is something we can do as fishers on the ground, and things can be changed by communicating before it’s too late”.
The fisher communities made every effort to recover from the disaster. Among them, Mr. Aizawa apart from dedicating himself to Nori farming during the typical Nori season (from September to April), travels around the country and organizes "what we can do before we lose our bountiful sea" Workshops (right photo) during the off-seasons at his own cost aiming to get people to know how Nori fishers grow Nori considering the changing environment of the ocean. This shows small-scale fishers’ contribution to environmental education, which is an excellent case of small-scale fisheries transitioning from one V (vulnerability) to another V (viability). You can get more information in this regard by watching a YouTube Video (Japanese with English subtitles) at this link.
Photo credit: Yinji Li, 2022 (left), Aizawa Fishery, 2021 (right)
Contributor: Yinji Li
V2V Photo of the Week: February 08, 2023
This photo was captured in Lake Chilwa, Malawi. It shows small-scale fishing boats on dry land that was once a part of Lake Chilwa. The effects of extreme weather events in the lake lead to extreme water level fluctuations in the lake. As a result, Lake Chilwa dries up, and fishing gets harder with each passing day as the water continues to move further away from the beach and the catch dwindles heavily. This scenario leads to various vulnerabilities in fishing communities that entirely depend on the lake for their livelihoods. The recent occurrence of complete drying of the lake occurred in the year 2018.
Photo credit: Hastings Zidana, 2018
Contributor: Moffat Mzama Manase
V2V Photo of the Week: February 01, 2023
This photo was captured in the coral reefs of the core zone in Karimunjawa National Park, Indonesia. Karimunjawa is one of the marine conservation areas in Indonesia known as Karimunjawa National Park, which has a vital role in maintaining marine and coastal services. To manage Karimunjawa National Park efficiently, the park is divided into nine zones, namely the core zone, jungle zone, marine protection zone, land use zone, tourism utilization zone, marine cultivation zone, religious zone, rehabilitation zone, and traditional fishing zone. Two out of the nine zones, the protection zone and the core zone, are highly guarded because of their crucial role in protecting marine ecosystems, including coral reefs. Coral reefs play a crucial role in supporting fisheries as they are spawning, nursing, and feeding grounds for a diverse range of species that form the basis of many fishing communities' livelihoods. However, coral reefs are also highly vulnerable to human activities, including overfishing, pollution, and climate change. When coral reefs are damaged, it can lead to declines in fish populations and a decrease in the overall productivity of the fishery. Therefore, the health of coral reefs is directly linked to the health of the surrounding fishery, and the sustainable management of both is essential for maintaining the long-term productivity, resilience of these ecosystems and the overall viability of the small-scale fisheries in a social-ecological system.
Photo credit and Contributor: Aini Nur Furoida and Zulfikar Al-hadfidz, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: January 25, 2023
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This photo was captured in Miemia, Western Region of Ghana, during data collection for a research on “Biomass Estimation, Composition and Environmental Effects of Sargassum Spp in coastal Ghana”. It shows the amount of seaweed piled up daily at the shore of Miemia. The West Africa’s coastal areas receive a high influx of pelagic seaweed invasion, which started decades ago. It occurs perennially and is mostly characterized by huge volumes of algae landing daily on beaches. The invasion of this seaweed poses economic, social, and ecological challenges to the fishers and community members, affecting their livelihoods, health, ecological and social wellbeing. The smell that emanates from the seaweed and the collection of insects around them causes some health issues among community members. Further, hauling boats and canoes into the shore after fishing voyages becomes a challenging task for the fishers of the community. There is also a concern regarding fishing nets and outboard motors getting destroyed anytime fishers go fishing
Photo credit: Richard Adade, Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience
Contributor: Selorm Awiah Dzantor, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: January 18, 2023
This photo was captured at Kaptai Lake, the largest lake of Bangladesh located at Rangamati district of Chittagong division. It shows small-scale fishers start their fishing trips in the morning with small mesh seine net. Kaptai Lake is one of the largest man-made freshwater lakes in South Asia, which occupies about 68,800 ha area. The Lake's fisheries has a significant contribution to the livelihoods of the small-scale fishing community, sharing approximately 10,578 metric tons of fish annually to the country's total production (Department of Fisheries in Bangladesh, 2021). Furthermore, the Lake is home to several Indian major carp spawning grounds.
Photo credit and Contributor: Amany Begum, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: January 11, 2023
This photo was captured at Mposa beach (Mapira beach) on the shores of Lake Chilwa, Malawi. The photo shows planked boats used by the small-scale fishers of Lake Chilwa. Lake Chilwa supplies, on average, about 20% of total fish landings in Malawi, reaching 27% in some years (GoM, 2005). The fishery is also important for sustaining livelihoods of many people living outside the basin. The lake fishery and the whole of the Chilwa plains are an important economic system. Not only are there links between fishing and various ancillary services of it, but also complementary flows of income between fishing, farming and cattle-rearing. The Lake Chilwa fisheries are harvested by over five thousand fishers (boat owners and crew members); many more are engaged in ancillary activities such as fish processing, trading, transportation, firewood selling and other support services. Most fishers use dugout canoes though some have access to planked boats with or without engines.
Photo credit and Contributor: Vannessa Warren, 2022
V2V Photo of the Week: January 04, 2023
This photo was captured during morning time at the Satapada fish landing and trading place in Chilika Lagoon, Odisha state, India. The photo shows women (who are from fisher families) cleaning, sorting and grading fish after buying it from the Mahajan (the fish buyer). The fisher women take the fish in their rented auto rickshaws to other areas for retail sale. At the left side of the photo, fishing nets are laid on the embankment for drying after fishers cleaned and unwind them.
Photo credit: Prateep Kumar Nayak, 2022
Contributor: Sisir Kanta Pradhan