...the decline of the industry was caused by fishermen using traps with meshes too small; persons using dynamite on the coral reefs, tourism and housing development, particularly along the coastline.

In addition, a lot of the island's mangroves are destroyed, while "glorified" pit latrines, piped straight into the ground threaten the various bays in the country. Seining, a large commercial fishing net with holes (usually too small), has also contributed to the destruction of the marine environment and the killing of eggs and baby fish. "Sometimes 1,000 baby fishes are killed through seining," ...
The problem is compounded by the fact that most of the young people on the southern side of the island are dependent on fishing and are into speargun fishing.
Some 70 per cent of them have dropped out of school and can't read and write, which poses a problem for them doing anything other fishing...

In the last 30 years, the country's coral reefs have depleted considerably, literally leaving the seafloor bare...
Only eight per cent of the coral reef remains intact in Bluefields Bay. A coral reef takes a year to grow an inch, and within a second that reef can be flattened or destroyed. Once absent from the ocean, the fish have nowhere to graze. Since the regeneration, there has been evidence of coral reefs returning to the area...

The habitat consists of mangroves seagrass and coral reefs. The mangroves, work like a filter, removing all the harmful debris before the water reaches the sea. It is also considered a fertiliser factory, because it is able to fertilise the seagrass. It protects the shoreline from erosion, when there is a storm surge.

It protects communities from hurricanes, as well, as it breaks the wind and is one of the most important aspects of the marine environment.

Up to 80 per cent of the marine life that live in the Bluefields Bay spend sometime of their life in the mangrove, whether as juveniles or as adults...

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