Media Release
It is estimated that approximately four million tonnes of fish are harvested off the
east coast of Africa every year and that fisheries exports alone contribute US$943
million to the economies of the region. Yet, while scientists believe that less than
50% of marine species off the east coast of Africa have been described, human
activities - such as pollution, over-fishing and environmental degradation ­ seriously
threaten the region's coastal and marine resources.
This is the reality facing the representatives of nine countries who met in Durban,
South Africa, last week to begin the process of intensively studying and, in time,
collectively managing the marine resources of East Africa and its small island states.
Representatives of Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique,
Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa and Tanzania met at the Oceanographic Research
Institute in Durban for the first Steering Committee meeting and Inception Workshop
of the Agulhas Somali Large Marine Ecosystems (ASCLME) project.
The five-year ASCLME project is centred on the two large marine ecosystems (LMEs)
of the Western Indian Ocean region. These are the Somali Current LME in the north
and the Agulhas Current LME in the south. An estimated 56 million people, living in
the nine countries of the region, are dependent on the resources of the two LMEs.
Over the next five years, the nine countries will work together through the ASCLME
project to:
- gather new and important information about the complex ocean currents and
how they interact with and influence the climate, biodiversity and economies
of the Western Indian Ocean region;
- document the environmental threats- such as marine pollution and declining
fisheries- that are faced by the countries of the region;
- develop a strategic programme of action to deal with environmental threats;

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- strengthen scientific and management expertise, with a view to introducing
an ecosystem approach to managing the living marine resources of the
Western Indian Ocean region.
"The Agulhas and Somali currents have a major influence on the societies and
economies of the Western Indian Ocean region," says Dr David Vousden, Director of
the ASCLME Project, "yet there are large gaps in our understanding of their
oceanographic processes, biodiversity and other fundamentals."
Over the next five years, researchers affiliated to the ASCLMEs project will embark
on a series of well-coordinated oceanographic research cruises in an attempt to
gather information about the oceanography and living marine resources of the two
LMEs. The coastal resources and their critical link to the well-being of coastal
communities will also come under intense scrutiny.
Research findings will lay the groundwork for the nine countries of the region to
develop a strategy for collectively managing the resources on which their people and
economies depend.
"The countries of the region have already recognised their collective responsibility for
their shared marine resources and voiced their support for this regional initiative,"
says Dr Vousden.
The ASCLME project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and
implemented by the United Nations Development Programme. Funding of $12.2
million has been secured from the GEF for the duration of the project which is being
hosted in Grahamstown, South Africa, by the South African Institute of Aquatic
Biodiversity. The UNDP country office in Mauritius is acting as the lead country office
for the project.

Issued by the Agulhas Somali Current Marine Ecosystems project
28 January 2007

For further information:
Dr David Vousden Project Director: ASCLME Project)
+27 46 622 6621
+27 79 038 6802

Claire Attwood (Media Consultant: ASCLME Project)
+ 27 21 788-5453 or +27 83 290 7995

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