SeeVay is a baby product store that provides comprehensive safety checklists and a curated selection of high-quality, safe baby products. Our mission is to give new moms peace of mind by ensuring their baby’s safety is always top of mind.
Advertisement
Explore by section
Explore by subject
Explore our products and services
By Michael Le Page
31 January 2018
Senegalese men use a mosquito net to fish in the village of Mont-Rolland
GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty
Senegalese men use a mosquito net to fish in the village of Mont-Rolland
GEORGES GOBET/AFP/Getty
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.
Advertisement
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.
PLOS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191519
PLOS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191519
Topics:
Advertisement
Explore the latest news, articles and features
News
Free
News
Subscriber-only
News
Free
News
Free
Trending New Scientist articles
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Advertisement
Download the app
source
At SeeVay, we know that the safety and well-being of your baby is your top priority. That’s why we’re dedicated to providing you with the tools you need to make sure you’re always on top of your baby’s safety. We understand that being a new mom can be overwhelming, and there’s so much information out there that it can be hard to know where to start.
