Nearshore fish aggregating devices: a means of habitat protection and food security in post disaster Solomon Islands

Abstract

In the aftermath of the tsunami in 2007, in an effort to assist communities in Western Province in Solomon Islands, the World Wide Fund for Nature, Solomon Islands (WWFSI) received funding from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation for a project on “Post-disaster fisheries and marine conservation recovery activities in the Western Province, Solomon Islands”. The WorldFish Center worked in partnership with WWF-SI on this component of the project, with the goal of examining whether nearshore fish aggregating devices (FADs) could help to maintain food security, while diverting fishing effort away from recovering reefs.