There are over 80,000 coastal communities worldwide, and these are the people who know the ocean best. Our job? We just help clear the path. This is what happens when communities hold the power. This is community-powered change: blueventures.org 📽️ ReWild Africa

IUU fishing in marine waters is a growing issues in Kenya, so it's great that NTV interviewed both Nelly and Clay from @blueventures.bsky.social, who are the experts on IUU in the region. youtu.be/jRZRg-KCnjY?...

Kenya loses an estimated Sh45 billion every year to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing

YouTube video by NTV Kenya

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🎈🎉 Happy 5th birthday, Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition! https://bit.ly/4kvaHGV We're proud to work alongside them: a coalition of 150+ organisations across nearly 50 countries, uniting small-scale fisher collectives, coastal communities, and international NGOs under one banner...

“We remained unrecognised as fishers for years, even when we registered ourselves. But we persist, working to change this.” This month, we've celebrated the Ocean Matriarchs. Separated by the ocean - connected by experience and innovation. When women lead, communities thrive: https://bit.ly/4fF01qi

📢 "If our lives depend on cardboard boxes shipped from abroad for us to eat fish, there is a problem." Diaba Diop (REFEPAS) Alongside the Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition (bit.ly/4kvaHGV), we're backing the call of fishing communities: protect coastal waters for those who depend on them.

After months of community-led catch monitoring on the Kenyan coast, the Jomvu Kuu Beach Management Unit (BMU) sat down to review their data. What they found prompted honest conversations about the future of their fishery: https://bit.ly/4gyVzZg

Their catch. Their data. Their decisions. - Blue Ventures

In Jomvu Kuu, a fisher community in Kenya, fishers are using catch data to understand what is happening in their fishery and shape what happens next.   Across Africa, declining fish stocks are already...

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Bottom trawling is one of the most destructive forms of fishing on the planet. It strips the seabed, devastates fish populations, and pushes coastal communities to the edge. The Transform Bottom Trawling Coalition is a global movement working to end it: transformbottombottomtrawling.org

On Madagascar's northern coast, a small island called Nosy Faly, 'the forbidden island', has built something rare: a community-led fisheries system so robust it draws national attention. Every August, the Mahaloky Festival marks the opening of mackerel season: https://bit.ly/4wwTJ0Q

Nosy Faly: The Island where tradition shapes the future - Blue Ventures - Photo Stories

On the northern coast of Madagascar, the island of Nosy Faly, whose name means "forbidden island", has become known far beyond its shores, not for its size or isolation, but for something more endurin...

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Madagascar's Barren Isles sit at the heart of one of the country's most ecologically important marine areas. Today, women are actively involved in mangrove reforestation, community patrols, and fisheries data collection: https://bit.ly/4wAFpVn 🤝 @blueactionfund.org @greenclimate.fund

In Timor-Leste, 30 women volunteers trained in community-based habitat monitoring free dive seagrass beds, take readings from the water surface, and record data that directly informs how their community manages its marine resources. Find out more via: https://bit.ly/4fF01qi

📢 Drawing on more than five decades of fishing experience, this week Kebba Faye delivered a powerful message about the state of Gambia's marine resources during a Sanyang Youth for Environmental Protection and Development (SANYEPD) capacity-building program: bit.ly/45Lmf41

Veteran fisherman sounds alarm on Gambia’s marine resources - The Point

Drawing on more than five decades of fishing experience since 1968, Faye delivered a powerful message about the state of the nation’s marine resources.   He warned that destructive fishing practices ...

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📢 "Only a community-led approach can reverse the rapid decline of Ghana's marine resources." Prof. Benjamin Betey Campion, Fisheries Commission Ghana The Small-Scale Fisheries Academy is making that happen, equipping fishers & community leaders to shape the future of their fisheries: bit.ly/4hcGgrg

Community-led fisheries management key to restoring declining fish stocks — Fisheries Commission

The Executive Director of the Fisheries Commission, Prof Benjamin Betey Campion, has stated that only community-led approach can reverse the rapid decline of the country's marine resources and protect...

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Meet Diaba. Ocean Matriarch, and President of REFEPAS in Senegal. Her role moves between the landing sites and meeting rooms, representing women working across the sector, advocating for their concerns, and for their inclusion in decision-making. Read her full story via: bit.ly/4pXYOxV

🤝 When women hold leadership roles in community governance, development is more successful, more relevant, and more equitable. When women are involved in local planning, communities become more resilient. 🔗 Meet the hidden half of small-scale fisheries - the Ocean Matriarchs: bit.ly/4pXYOxV

Ocean Matriarchs

The hidden half of small-scale fisheries

blueventures.shorthandstories.com

One in 12 people depends at least partly on small-scale fishing, and nearly half of them are women. Most are invisible in the data, absent from governance, and underrepresented in decision-making. Throughout August, we'll be introducing you to the women leading the charge in their communities...

“If we close the sea for three months or more, where do we go to fish? How can we provide for our families?” Through community-led data collection and capacity building, the people of Kaibobu, Indonesia, chose to trust in their tradition once again: explore.blueventures.org/preserving-s...

Preserving Sasi in Maluku - Blue Ventures - Photo Stories

That morning broke the pattern of calm days in Kaibobu village. As the shoreline brightened and the tide receded, doors began to open along the coast. Men and women, old and young, stepped into small ...

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Home to 67 mangrove species, Kubu Raya is one of Indonesia's richest coastal ecosystems, making its long-term stewardship critical for biodiversity and fisheries. 🔗 Find out more about our work here, made possible by the support of @blueactionfund.org: buff.ly/gbnRiYA

Science works best when it sits directly in the hands of coastal communities. In Assassins Bay, southwestern Madagascar, local managers use accessible mapping tools to track mangrove growth, guide restoration, and adapt their governance. When local leaders hold the data, conservation lasts.

🌿 Mangroves shelter coastlines, nurse fish populations, and have sustained livelihoods for generations. The power to protect them has always lived in the people who depend on them. 🤝 Our job is to back that power with funding, data, training and advocacy, so local action can drive lasting recovery.

Behind every data point is a story of local stewardship. Ahead of World Mangrove Day, we’re spotlighting the communities protecting their coastal ecosystems. 72,715 ha of mangroves under community management 1,742,092 people benefiting 1,000 communities leading 128 local partners on the ground

Mangroves cover just 0.1% of Earth's surface, but for the fishing communities who depend on them, they're everything. Ahead World Mangrove Day, we're celebrating these blue forests and the people protecting them: blueventures.org/respect-these-roots-exploring-the-might-of-mangroves/

Respect these roots: Exploring the might of mangroves - Blue Ventures

Mangroves are truly magnificent. Making up less than 1% of tropical forests worldwide, some mangroves store six times more carbon than an equal area of Amazonian rainforest.  As green guardians of…

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182 hectares of mangrove forest has been protected by local regulation in Indonesia, thanks to years of dedicated work 💪 Women building businesses from marine resources, and a village standing on its own as the @blueactionfund.org mentoring programme ends. 🔗 More via:

Sinergi Warga Desa Medan Mas Menjaga Pesisir dan Menghidupkan Roda Ekonomi

Warga Desa Medan Mas, Kubu Raya, sukses memadukan konservasi 182 hektare mangrove, pemberdayaan ekonomi UMKM, dan penekanan angka stunting.

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In Madagascar, ~280 villages now manage their own fisheries through locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), a model which has since reached 11 countries. 🔗 The power to restore coastal seas lives in the communities who depend on them: triplepundit.com/2026/climate... 📰 @triplepundit.bsky.social

📢 Madagascar’s Barren Isles takes a significant step towards the establishment of its Marine Protected Area. Once designated, the Barren Isles will be the biggest MPA in the Western Indian Ocean. No small feat! 🤝 With thanks to @blueactionfund.org and @greenclimate.fund for their ongoing support.

Just in from Our Ocean Conference… Senegal has pledged to extend its Inshore Exclusion Zone (IEZ) from 6 to 12 nautical miles, covering its ENTIRE territorial sea & shutting out industrial fishing for good, with Comoros committed to Artisanal Stewardship Areas across all its waters: buff.ly/UCcJJCH

Fishing knowledge and traditions are passed down through generations. Here, women are challenging the perception of fishing as a traditionally male occupation, carving out their own place. Find out more about our Ocean Matriarch's exhibit at Our Ocean Conference: buff.ly/CjK9o03 #OOC11

We've committed to supporting 10,000 communities to lead fisheries co-management and marine conservation by 2030, with 400+ civil society organisations supported with funding, data, training and policy engagement. Our plans for Our Ocean Conference: blueventures.shorthandstories.com/action-for-f...

Latest from Kenya... Our grantees @wildtrust.co.za & @blueventures.bsky.social will present their #30x30 work at upcoming #OOC11 #OurOceanKenya @oceanthayne.bsky.social @oceanthyrza.bsky.social @oceancecilia.bsky.social

📢 227,300 hectares of Madagascar's coastal waters are now formally managed by the fisher communities who depend on them. Years of organising and advocacy - now, formal rights in place: blueventures.org/community-oc... When communities lead, oceans thrive. #WorldOceansDay

Community ocean stewards gain formal recognition in Madagascar - Blue Ventures

A landmark policy decision has strengthened legal recognition of coastal communities’ role in safeguarding Madagascar’s marine and coastal ecosystems. The draft decree on Other Effective Area-based Co...

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📢 The power to restore coastal seas lies within communities. From June 16-18 we'll be in Mombasa for Our Ocean Conference, shaping policy discourse alongside a delegation of small-scale fishers from around the world: blueventures.shorthandstories.com/action-for-f...

Artisanal Stewardship at Our Ocean Conference

OOC11 must be grounded in community voice

blueventures.shorthandstories.com