00:00Under the waters of Kenya's coast, small-scale fishes show off their catch.
00:06But before their hole is taken off to market, they bring it to Hassan Washi.
00:11He is a member of a beach management unit, a locally-led initiative that digitally record catch data
00:17to tackle the problem of declining stocks and promote sustainable fishing.
00:23Through the data, we were able to come up with a management plan that we should keep the octopus reverse,
00:28so that helped us know that in those rocks, there are octopuses again, small ones.
00:33So if BMU closes that place for three months, those fishermen will be going fishing
00:38and they will find octopuses that are well-grown, and if they sell them,
00:42they can get the money that is good for their livelihood.
00:45Twelve units now collect data four days a week, reaching more than 1,000 fishes.
00:51Patrick Kimani is the executive director of Coastal and Marine Resource Development,
00:56the organization that supports the initiative.
00:59Having known from their data that actually this area is a good habitat for octopuses,
01:08they were able to close and solve the problem of declining sizes.
01:13Communities are now considering restrictions, such as temporary fishing closures
01:17and tighter enforcement against illegal gear.
01:22Fisher Fahki Abdallah said data collection was helping curb destructive practices.
01:28These include the use of speargun, which damages fish and lowers market value.
01:35Kenya is hosting the 11th Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa this week.
01:40The event comes as coastal communities across Africa face pressure from overfishing,
01:45climate change and pollution, and global targets to protect 30% of the world's oceans by 2030
01:53remain off track.
01:55The three-day conference, which starts on June 16th,
01:59will bring stakeholders together to advance commitments on marine protection
02:03and sustainable fisheries.
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