Abstract Mosquito net fishing (MNF) is a growing activity globally, particularly in places where mass distributions of nets are a public health policy to tackle malaria. Due to the mesh sizes used, and therefore its assumed ‘indiscriminate’ nature, MNF is thought to be unsustainable and a threat to both fisheries resources and biodiversity. As a consequence, MNF is widely illegal. While a body of evidence is growing as to the scale of MNF, few detailed case studies exist and none explicitly address the assumptions of ecological harm. Here, we present a first full characterization and gear comparison for MNF within the small-scale fisheries of Cabo Delgado, Northern Mozambique. The assumptions of harm to the fishery are challenged by the characterization of MNF as highly gendered in this case; with a primarily androcentric deployment method posing some risk to the fishery but a predominantly gynocentric method demonstrating possibility of limited resource overlap with other gears and little evidence of ecosystem-level impacts. The gendered nature of the fishery is discussed in terms of both risks and benefits to the fishery, with a critical need for further socio-economic assessment identified in order to guide more effective and equitable management of MNF.

中文翻译：

---

具有挑战性的假设：蚊帐捕鱼的性别性质及其对管理的影响

摘要 蚊帐捕鱼 (MNF) 在全球范围内是一项日益增长的活动，特别是在大量分发蚊帐是应对疟疾的公共卫生政策的地方。由于所使用的网眼尺寸及其假定的“不分青红皂白”的性质，MNF 被认为是不可持续的，并且对渔业资源和生物多样性构成威胁。因此，MNF 是广泛非法的。虽然关于 MNF 规模的证据越来越多，但很少有详细的案例研究，也没有明确解决生态危害的假设。在这里，我们首次展示了莫桑比克北部德尔加杜角小型渔业中 MNF 的完整特征和渔具比较。在这种情况下，MNF 被描述为高度性别化，这对渔业损害的假设提出了挑战；主要以男性为中心的部署方法对渔业构成了一些风险，但以女性为中心的主要方法表明与其他渔具资源重叠的可能性有限，并且几乎没有证据表明生态系统层面的影响。从渔业的风险和收益两方面讨论了渔业的性别性质，迫切需要确定进一步的社会经济评估，以指导对多国渔业进行更有效和公平的管理。