What is Conservation?
Cambodia is one of the countries in South-East Asia that has about 440-kilometer coastline. In that area, the Kep Archipelago where it is rich in marine ecosystem, containing coral reefs, mussel beds, seagrass meadows, and provides many ecosystem services and benefits: a migratory route for mega fauna (sea turtles, dolphins, dugong); a nursery ground for juvenile fish; a protection from coastline damages; a place that maintains the nutrient cycle and provides food security for the local fishermen.
However, there are many anthropogenic activities continuously happening in Kep Archipelago like over-fishing, illegal unreported unregulated fishing (electro-fishing, bottom-trawling, and seine net), sedimentation, ocean acidification, and plastic pollution. Specifically, trawling is the main illegal fishing over there, which trawlers are using massive nets to attach to the back of the boat and scraping through bottom floor of the ocean. Consequently, it causes many bycatch. Bycatch (noun) - the unwanted fish and other marine creatures trapped by commercial fishing nets during fishing for a different species. (Google) This is an immense problem! Therefore, Liger Marine Research Team (LMRT) takes it as our commitment. This is conservation. |
What is LMRT ?
LMRT is a team comprises of eight high school students from the Liger Leadership Academy that collaborates with Marine Conservation Cambodia (MCC), an NGO which is located at Koh Seh Island, Cambodia. Our mission is to rehabilitate the marine ecosystem of the Kep Archipelago by implementing the solutions of artificial reef or anti-trawling blocks, and fish aggregation device or cluster. For three years, we will have monitored the sites we deployed the solutions and inspired the next generation.
LMRT travels to Koh Seh Island monthly during the field season (Jan-May); it is where our research is held. On the island, we monitor our structure by surveying fish, invertebrates, and substrates, help the marine mammal project, do beach clean, dive, and snorkel.
|
Monthly Trip |