Conserving Sabah's Coral Reefs Through Education

Kota Kinabalu, Aug 7 (Bernama) -- Non-profit organisation Reef Check Malaysia (RCM) is to launch a coral reef rehabilitation and education project on Mantanani Island off the Sabah west coast this month, primarily to reduce fish bombing.

The project will be undertaken with financial support from Murphy Oil Corporation, RCM said in a statement Tuesday.

Fish bombing involves the use of explosives to stun or kill schools of fish for easy collection, it said, adding that the illegal practice is extremely destructive to the coral reef ecosystem as the explosion often destroys the surrounding habitat.

"It reduces the area around the blast (typically around 20 sq metres) to lifeless rubble and recovery rates are often very slow due to the unfavourable conditions rendered from the bomb blast," it said.

RCM said the project on Mantanani Island would be able to address this through two phases.

-- BERNAMA