Fighting Blast Fishing

Michael Markovina, is a Consultant for Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) SmartFish Programme, and the co-founder of Moving Sushi, a non profit company that ‘uses scientific exploration and open access data to better understand the social, economic and biological needs for the conservation and sustainable use of key African marine resources.’ [Source MovingSushi.com]

Markovina is no stranger to the TEDxCapeTown stage, he shared the Moving Sushi story on our stage in 2011. Six years later, he is excited to be speaking on TEDxCapeTownSalon event stage, to share the incredible work done in Tanzania, by a small dedicated team fighting the destructive practice of blast/dynamite fishing. He hopes that his talk will create awareness around the vast potential there is to still tackle ocean crimes.

The ocean and the individuals who work towards its sustainability (not self-interest) are what inspire him most, and this keeps him motivated to continue tackling the complex challenges associated with fish crime.

His work has focused primarily on community fisheries, and the social complexities revolving around fisheries overexploitation, which is fuelled by poor fisheries policies, poverty, ineffective fisheries MCS, and weak fishery management institutions. The challenges have been exceptional, however, it has allowed him great access to understanding the social and economic complexities of coastal fisheries.

Since 2014, his role has been focused on working with a key expert on fisheries investigations, and to devise a strategy and plan of action to eradicate the use of explosives to harvest fish along the Tanzanian coastline. Michael Markovina, is a Consultant for Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) SmartFish Programme, and the co-founder of Moving Sushi, a non profit company that ‘uses scientific exploration and open access data to better understand the social, economic and biological needs for the conservation and sustainable use of key African marine resources.’ This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx