Before the introduction of the Fish for Tomorrow project, most Usipa fishers used mosquito nets and Number 6 bunt which caught mainly baby Usipa, known as bonya. In 2012, newly adopted district bylaws specified that Number 10 bunt was the minimum permitted size and despite their initial concerns, fishers were soon happy with the change as they were catching bigger Usipa with the larger meshed bunt in their chilimira nets and making more money.
However, in order to increase the size of fish being caught still further, we are now trialling the use of a Number 12 bunt. Initially, fishers were reluctant to use these as they thought that Number 12 was too big to catch Usipa. For the trial, Ripple Africa are providing 30 bundles of Bunt 12 to fifteen Usipa fishers and already those using them are catching bigger Usipa and making more money.
