Where we work
Kenya
Off Kenya's coast, marlin tagged by sport-fishing crews showed how far these ocean predators range across the western Indian Ocean; whale sharks are our next focus.
Kenyan sport fishers approached MMF because they knew too little about the marlin they caught and released, and they funded satellite tags to close that gap. Between 2015 and 2019, crews fishing off Watamu, Shimoni, and Mombasa tagged 98 black and striped marlin, the first satellite-tracking study of either species in the Indian Ocean. The tracks showed marlin ranging over thousands of kilometers, north to Somalia and Oman, east to the Maldives, and south to Mozambique. Read more about our completed Kenya Marlin Project.
We are now beginning whale shark work in Kenya with Kenyan partners, including the Kenya Wildlife Service and the Wildlife Research and Training Institute. The work combines training, photo-identification monitoring with dive operators at Diani and Lamu, and building the case for legal protection. Our team plans to visit the Kenyan coast in early 2027. (Top photo: Henley Spiers.)
Completed projects
Watamu and Shimoni, KenyaKenya Marlin ProjectSport-fishing crews in Kenya fitted 98 satellite tags to black and striped marlin, and the tracks showed fish ranging thousands of kilometers across the western Indian Ocean.What we work on
Marlin tagged off Kenya regularly reached the commercial fishing grounds of the northwest Indian Ocean; as a result, catches there affect Kenya's own artisanal and recreational fishers. Our tracking results point to how the region's marlin could be better managed.
Whale sharks are not legally protected in Kenya. With Kenyan partners, we are training researchers, establishing photo-identification monitoring with dive operators, and building the evidence for protection.
