Small-scale fishermen confront a number of local and global environmental challenges, such as dwindling fish populations and climate change. Community-based aquaculture (CBA) initiatives have been created in coastal Kenya inside a locally managed marine area (LMMA) should provide alternative revenue streams for small-scale fishing groups and to encourage local efforts to reduce local fishing pressures.

This study aimed to better understand community views of access to and advantages from two CBA initiatives utilizing seaweed and sea turtle aquaculture inside the Wasini Island LMMA. Subjects included seaweed farmers, sea cucumber farmers, and non-farmers, and the study looked at the initiatives' individual and communal consequences. During 2018, WSCSD participated in field research utilizing an adapted Photovoice approach using participant-based pictures and in-depth interviews.

The incorporation of CBA enterprises into the LMMA created a new management paradigm, with aquaculture top priorities 'private access' inside a formerly 'open-access' context. The findings demonstrate that local residents accepted this transformation in connectivity for the community's coastal area, with aquaculture benefits such as more consistent revenue generation and compensation across the community showing up to overshadow the loss of access to part of their conventional fishing grounds. Nevertheless, further study is required in order to comprehend how women and other marginalized local residents are affected. The CBA-LMMA concept may be applicable to other coastal community contexts in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) where there is both a need and a potential for positive convergence of community-based economic opportunities and marine conservation, based on the advantages highlighted by community members.

Shark captures are widespread in small-scale (artisanal) and leisure fisheries; the amplitudes of these landings, especially in developing countries are unknown and largely unexplored. To assess the proportion of shark landings in these Kenyan fisheries, data from three sources were used: boat-based outdoor recreation fishery tagging from 1987 to 2016, observed landings from the Bycatch Assessment and Mitigation in the Western Indian Ocean Fisheries Project from 2016 to 2017, and Catch Evaluation Surveys dockings data from 2017 to 2020. Among the 2,215 sharks caught in small-scale fishing throughout June 2016 and June 2017, 5 species were recognized. The majority of them belonging to the families Carcharhinidae (26%), Triakidae (23%), and Sphyrnidae (14%). Longlines (41%), drift gillnets (30%), and underside gillnets (21%) caught the most fish.

Throughout 1987 and 2016, 501 sharks from 16 different species were tagged using dragging lines or rods and reels. Carcharhinidae (56%) and Sphyrnidae (12%) accounted for the majority of the catch.

A logistic regression model was used to analyze the influence of year, gear type, seasonality, and vessel operating mode on the variance in shark catches in small-scale fisheries throughout 2017 and 2020. Catches increased dramatically in 2017, with high capture rates seen on both longlines and handlines.

The survey's findings emphasize the relevance of citizen science by longline fishing in raising awareness about the hazards and challenges to shark populations. Bolstering current monitoring of shark connections with small-scale and entertainment fisheries is critical, as is implementing appropriate conservation and management measures such as reducing fishing effort (e.g., prawn trawling) in nursery areas, precluding the capture of CITES-protected species, and imposing catch-and-release procedures by sport commercial fishermen to ensure the long-term sustainable development of both the impacted shark species and the ecosystem.