Fishing Gear Selectivity and Preference in Marine Capture Fisheries of Vanga, South Coast Kenya

Vanga, a transboundary fishing community on Kenya’s south coast, supports a multi-species, multi-gear artisanal fishery shaped by increasing fishing effort and resource-use conflicts with neighbouring Tanzanian fishers. This study examines gear selectivity and fisher gear preference within the Vanga fishery, based on catch composition, size-structure and retained-catch data alongside fisher assessments of gear use across the southeast and northeast monsoon seasons. The fishery comprises a diverse catch of reef-associated species (Lethrinus, Lutjanus, Siganus) and pelagic species (Decapterus, Scomberoides, Sardinella, Euthynnus affinis), landed using gillnets, traps, handlines, beach seines and spearguns/ring nets, often deployed interchangeably by the same fishers. Results show considerable overlap in the species and size ranges captured across these gears, with kawakawa (Euthynnus affinis) prominent among retained landings and retained fish generally smaller than discarded individuals, reflecting an added layer of size-selection through fisher retention behaviour. Gear preference appears driven primarily by target-species value, seasonal availability and gear cost rather than by inherent gear size-selectivity, consistent with the largely non-selective, opportunistic nature of the gears in use. These findings indicate that single-gear restrictions alone are unlikely to achieve management objectives given the high cross-gear overlap in catch profiles. An integrated, multi-gear management approach, combining seasonal effort controls, mesh-size harmonization and strengthened community co-management under the Shimoni- Vanga Co-Management Area, is recommended to support sustainable exploitation of Vanga’s nearshore fisheries.