Alasdair Harris in the Guardian:
More hereRural Malagasy people in the arid south west have been hit particularly hard by the decline in fish populations. For the nomadic Vezo communities that inhabit this region, seafood is the sole source of protein (pdf) in 99% of household meals. Income is just over a dollar per person per day.
'Blue Ventures / Garth Cripps'.
And they’re far from alone. At least 97% of the world’s fishers live in developing countries, the vast majority working in small-scale fisheries in the tropics. These traditional fisheries are vital to hundreds of millions of people, providing a lifeline for families and coastal economies, and underpinning food security for entire nations. Already 1.3 billion people live on tropical coasts and are dependent on the planet’s richest yet most threatened marine biodiversity.
The Vezo are fighting this ecological crisis. Within the Velondriake Locally Managed Marine Area, nearly 1,000 km2 of seagrass, coral reefs and mangrove forests are managed at a local level. Elected representatives from 25 villages oversee a network of marine reserves, periodic fisheries closures and community-based aquaculture initiatives – all designed to help rebuild local fisheries.
Velondriake’s success has inspired a wave of similar grassroots projects, and 34 new Locally Managed Marine Areas have been created around Madagascar’s shores in the past seven years, covering nearly 7% of the country’s seabed.
Madagascar isn’t the only country in the region where this local revolution in marine management is underway. One management model piloted in Velondriake, which closed fisheries for three months to allow fish stocks to replenish, has not only been replicated hundreds of times across Madagascar, but is also being adapted by other fisheries in the Indian Ocean.
