Coelacanth was caught in Zanzibar, which is an is the name for an archipelago in the Indian Ocean 25–50 km off the coast of East Africa, of numerous small islands and two large ones:
"Virtually unique in the animal kingdom, with a saga steeped in science and popular imagination, the fabulous Coelacanth ("see-la-kanth"), that 400 million year old "living fossil" fish, swims on. Pre-dating the dinosaurs by millions of years and once thought to have gone extinct with them, 65 million years ago, the Coelacanth with its "missing link" "proto legs" was "discovered" alive and well in 1938! At least three people have perished in the quest for the coelacanth, and possibly several others." - reports Dinofish.com
The following is an information from Wikipedia
"Coelacanths have been caught off the coast of Tanzania since 2004. Two coelacanths were initially reported captured in Kigombe, a small village off the edge of the Indian Ocean in August 2004. A spate of 19 more specimens of these extremely rare fishes weighing between 25 kg. to 80 kg. were reported netted in the space of the next 5 months, with another specimen captured in January 2005. A coelacanth weighing as much as 110 kg. was reported by the Observer newspaper in 2006. Officials of the Tanga Coastal Zone Conservation and Development Programme, which has a long-term strategy for protecting the species, see a connection with the timing of the captures with trawling - especially by Japanese vessels - near the coelacanth's habitat, as within a couple of days of trawlers casting their nets coelacanths have turned up in shallow-water fishing nets intended for sharks. The sudden appearance of the coelacanth off Tanzania that has raised real worries about its future due to damage done to the coelacanth population by the effects of indiscriminate trawling methods and habitat damage.
"Hassan Kolombo, a programme co-ordinator, said. "Once we do not have trawlers, we don't get the coelacanths, it's as simple as that." His colleague, Solomon Makoloweka, said they had been pressuring the Tanzanian government to limit trawlers' activities. He said: "I suppose we should be grateful to these trawlers, because they have revealed this amazing and unique fish population. but we are concerned they could destroy these precious things. We want the government to limit their activity and to help fund a proper research programme so that we can learn more about the coelacanths and protect them."
