October 2015

Anova/Fishing & Living donated GPS units to handline fishermen in Obi (North Maluku, Indonesia).

Over the past 6 months, Indonesia and other parts of South East Asia have recently been suffering from severe droughts, likely due to the on-going ENSO event (also called El Nino). As a result, devastating forest fires have been occurring on Sumatra and Borneo emitting large quantities of smoke and creating vast expanses of smog and haze across the region. As a result, visibility at sea has been greatly reduced for these handline fishermen who visually spot dolphins and birds to locate schools of tuna. Handline fishermen also usually find their way home based on visual cues. Since fishermen usually fish in groups, one GPS units can be used by a group of 3 to 4 boats, each boat manned by a single fishermen.

These GPS units will help handline fishermen locate their fishing grounds and find their way back home without getting lost.