ECA Newsletter 16 -January to June 2024

The idea of gwala, bubuli of the header picture). Fishing is still allowed in the has been applied in waters out from the reef drop off, but not allowed Sewa Bay in the past however this was not really within the bubuli that follows the fringing reefs along applied. A recent unfortunate event though where a the shore. young man from Goodenough drowned whilst sperfishing in the bay led to a customary bubuli being Throughout the communities of Milne Bayput in place, the water becoming contaminated by his death and in preparation for a feast to break the periodof mourning, when his family come to his place of burial at Sewa Bay. As the water in the bay is often clear and calm, those paddling through this area noticed the recovery of fish as a result of the placing of the bubuli. They see a lot more fish and larger fish as a result of the closure as time goes by. Communities in adjacent areas who had half heartedly put in bubuli before for reef and marine stock recovery, now decided that it was timely to put in an area of bubuli for an extended time. It was decided to place a bubuli for a period of 5 years along the coastal fringing reefsand those reefs surrounding the small islet of Galogalo in the bay.