Mosquito net fishing exemplifies conflict among Sustainable Development Goals

INTRODUCTION: Insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs) are highly effective for the control of malaria. Yet widely distributed ITNs have been repurposed as fishing nets throughout the world. OBJECTIVES: Herein we present a synthesis of the current knowledge of ITN fishing and the toxicity of pyrethroids and discuss the potential implications of widespread fishing with ITNs. We further review effective management strategies in tropical fisheries to explore a framework for managing potential ITN fishing impacts. DISCUSSION: Pyrethroids are toxic to fish and aquatic environments, and fishing with ITNs may endanger the health of fisheries. Furthermore, although human toxicity to the pyrethroid insecticides that impregnate ITNs is traditionally thought to be low, recent scientific advances have shown that pyrethroid exposure is associated with a host of human health issues, including neurocognitive developmental disorders, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Although it is known that ITN fishing is widespread, the implications for both fisheries and human communities is understudied and may be severe.

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“…Fishing communities in malaria-endemic regions are seemingly caught between competing sustainable development goals ( Trisos et al. 2019 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implications of Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Net Fishing in Lower Income Countries

Larsen

Makaure

Ryan

et al. 2021

Environ Health Perspect

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“…While malaria programmes can and should play a role, specifically in optimizing malaria prevention and integrated vector control management, livelihoods, fisheries, food security and enforcement agencies must also be involved. The recent conflicting SDG publication suggests that these cross-sectoral opportunities are the key to any successful way forward; single sector approaches are incapable of weighing the pros and cons of different interventions [14]. Livelihoods experts should continue to support existing or new programmes that women and families can engage into improve both subsistence livelihoods and income generation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The global survey study received 94 independent observational inputs of the presence of ITNs being misused for fishing, primarily across sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia [13]. Additionally, a recent publication positing the noncomplementary nature of four of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SGD), suggests that in the context of receiving ITNs to protect oneself from malaria, the internationally community unknowingly provided a tool to end hunger and contradicted its efforts at ensuring sustainable ecosystems [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Poverty and food security: drivers of insecticide-treated mosquito net misuse in Malawi

Berthe

Harvey

Lynch

et al. 2019

Malar J

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Background Over the past decade, food insecurity, connected to erratic rains and reduced agricultural outputs, has plagued Malawi. Many households are turning to fishing to seek additional sources of income and food. There is anecdotal evidence that insecticide-treated net (ITN) recipients in Malawi are using their nets for purposes other than sleeping, such as for fishing, protecting crops, and displaying merchandise, among others. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the factors leading residents of waterside communities in Malawi to use ITNs for fishing. Methods This study used qualitative and observational methods. Five waterside communities were identified, two each in the North, Central and Southern regions, representing a mix of lakeside and riverside settings. Fifteen focus group discussions were conducted with a total of 146 participants, including men, women, and community leaders. Results Respondents stated that they knew that ITNs should be slept under to protect from malaria. Respondents discussed financial hardships their communities were facing due to droughts, poverty, food scarcity, unemployment, and devaluation of the Malawian currency, the kwacha. Many described selling household goods, including clothes and cooking pots, to generate short-term income for their family. Though no respondents admitted to selling an ITN themselves, the practice was commonly known. Participants said that food shortages were forcing them to make difficult choices. Fishing with ITNs was reported to be common in the study sites, as a response to food insecurity, and was widely understood to be harmful over the longer term. Respondents felt that it was everyone’s responsibility to cut down on this practice, but that efforts to confiscate or burn nets and boats of those caught fishing with ITNs were counter-productive since boats, especially, were a required resource for a productive livelihood. Respondents feared that if the health workers, government officials and donors continued to see ITNs being misused for fishing, the distribution of free ITNs would end, which would worsen malaria in their communities. Conclusions Faced with economic hardships and food security crises, participants reported being forced to look for alternative incomes to feed their families. This sometimes included selling or repurposing their belongings, including ITNs, for income. This issue is complex and will require a community-led multisectoral response to preserve health, fisheries, and livelihoods.

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“…Land management‐based options that require significant land use change can adversely affect efforts to eradicate poverty and eliminate hunger (Molotoks et al., 2018); such trade‐offs were identified with afforestation and BECCS/bioenergy in particular. Recognizing these trade‐offs in advance can help policymakers find alternative measures, or at least possibilities to avoid or minimize negative effects, through well‐managed implementation, safety nets, and welfare policies, among other solutions (Trisos et al., 2019). Similarly, social development options that are focused on human improvement to the exclusion of natural systems can have adverse effects on NCPs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of interventions in the global land and agri‐food sectors on Nature’s Contributions to People and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

McElwee

Calvin

Campbell

et al. 2020

Global Change Biology

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Interlocked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, and land degradation require transformative interventions in the land management and food production sectors to reduce carbon emissions, strengthen adaptive capacity, and increase food security. However, deciding which interventions to pursue and understanding their relative co-benefits with and trade-offs against different social and environmental goals have been difficult without comparisons across a range of possible actions. This study examined 40 different options, implemented through land management, value chains, or risk management, for their relative impacts across 18 Nature's Contributions to People (NCPs) and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We find that a relatively small number of interventions show positive synergies with both SDGs and NCPs with no significant adverse trade-offs; these include improved cropland management, improved grazing land management, improved livestock management, agroforestry, integrated water management, increased soil organic carbon content, reduced soil erosion, salinization, and compaction, fire management, reduced NCP 16 Physical and psychological experiences Opportunities for physically and psychologically beneficial activities, healing, relaxation, recreation, leisure, and aesthetic enjoyment based on close contact with nature NCP 17 Supporting identities The basis for religious, spiritual, and social-cohesion experiences; sense of place, purpose, belonging, rootedness or connectedness, associated with different entities of the living world; narratives and myths, rituals, and celebrations; satisfaction derived from knowing that a particular landscape, seascape, habitat, or species exist NCP 18 Maintenance of options Capacity of ecosystems, habitats, species, or genotypes to keep human options open in order to support a later good quality of life TA B L E 1 (Continued) | 4695 McELWEE Et aL.

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Mosquito net fishing exemplifies conflict among Sustainable Development Goals

Cited by 20 publications

References 16 publications

Implications of Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Net Fishing in Lower Income Countries

Implications of Insecticide-Treated Mosquito Net Fishing in Lower Income Countries

Poverty and food security: drivers of insecticide-treated mosquito net misuse in Malawi

The impact of interventions in the global land and agri‐food sectors on Nature’s Contributions to People and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

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