Stop Fish Bombing Teams With WWF Malaysia For Coral Restoration
Stop Fish Bombing Malaysia is supporting WWF Malaysia's coral restoration efforts in Mabul Semporna Malaysian Borneo. Previous WWF restoration efforts had run into problems because bombs could be heard but locating the bomb sites was difficult. A critical aspect to restoration is time as it should start as soon as possible after a blast. Broken coral that is still alive may be reattached and/or stabilized so that it can continue to grow. If not done soon enough the damaged coral will get rolled around by currents and die. The ensuing rubble turns into a coral dead zone in the reef.
WWF Malaysia agreed to partially fund SFB Malaysia to demonstrate the bomb location capabilities by deploying an array in Mabul, south of Semporna - a fish bombing hotspot. The array was deployed June 2022. Twenty days after installation and “Go-live”, SFB detected blasts and notified enforcement officials who apprehended three boats filled with bombed fish. Show the array was providing accurate fish bomb locations.
With assistance from SFB Malaysia, WWF is now ready for the next step, to inspect recent bomb locations and identify sites for coral restoration from September 12 - 15, 2022.
Late breaking news: Terence Lim, SFB Malaysia Director will be a speaker at the WWF Malaysia 50th Anniversary celebration on November 2 and 3, 2022.