The Olive Ridley Project (2024)

Since 2022, the team in Kenya has collaborated with nine fishing communities along Kwale County’s 50 km coastline to promote sea turtle conservation. Through training and continuous engagement, they have empowered over 100 Balozi Wa Kasa (Sea Turtle Ambassadors) to spread awareness about the importance of sea turtles and the threats they face. This peer-to-peer education has significantly increased fishers’ willingness to protect turtles and their habitats.

Moving forward, their focus will be on conservation action, particularly bycatch mitigation, to reduce incidental sea turtle captures and prevent habitat destruction caused by harmful fishing practices. Trust-building efforts, including the involvement of the Kenya Wildlife Service, have encouraged more fishers to openly report turtle bycatch, allowing for more accurate data collection and informed conservation strategies.

With SWOT funding, they will pilot a bycatch mitigation study in one fishing community, training eight fishers as data collectors. These fishers will use LED lights on their nets, alternating between lighted and unlighted setups, to assess the impact on both target fish catch and sea turtle bycatch. The fishers will document their results, and if findings align with previous studies, they will demonstrate that lights reduce turtle bycatch without affecting fish catch.

The trained fishers will then present their findings to fellow fishers and committee members, fostering widespread adoption of the mitigation method. A final report will be shared with additional fishing communities, local authorities, and key stakeholders, promoting broader conservation efforts across the region.