Catch monitoring continues in Andavadoaka.

Blue Ventures staff and volunteers were out in force on Sunday 9th October as they donned their ‘football boots’ for Blue Ventures versus Veso male and female football matches. The matches were a village event and a large crowd gathered to cheer on both teams.

Our ladies made up a full team and put in a fine performance; managing to only lose 1:0. Following this ‘success’ it was the men’s turn: at ½ time the men were losing 2:0 however they ended victorious (by default) as it was claimed that the Andavadoaka team did not want to continue play as the ball was not sufficiently inflated. Confirmation of this version of events is yet to happen!

The Blue Ventures have been tirelessly working towards producing the new Research Update to present the findings from the re-opening of the Nosy Fasy no-take zone. We are pleased to announce that it is finished. Check it out by clicking here.

Friends of ours have recently set up the following website, so that you can find out which bank is the bestest. Have a look!
www.ratemybank.com

Here’s a great new website we’ve been using recently http://www.wildmadagascar.org/home.html. It allows you to get a comprehensive view of what there is to offer in the fantastic country that is Madagascar. Check it out and maybe it’ll persuade you, if you haven’t been already, to get yourself involved in your own bit of responsible travel, or alternatively some expedition work.

Another big step has been taken in the fight for protection of sharks. The North Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (NAFO) has recently placed a ban on shark finning. This will apply with immediate effect to all ground fish and shrimp trawl fisheries in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. This is much-needed progress, however there is still no limit or quota imposed on shark fisheries, so further research is desperately needed to expand data collection for shark fisheries in order to develop management plans to promote the sustainability of the fishery. Click here for more information.

Some of the volunteers plus the Blue Ventures Doctor have been helping the village doctor Joseph and a team of vaccinators with a polio vaccination campaign (funded by UNICEF and other NGOs) which has involved vaccinating all children under five years in Andavadoaka and surrounding villages.

The volunteers found this an enormously rewarding and educational experience where they not only got to interact with people in the village and get an insight into their lives but also felt they were contributing in a positive way. The village doctor and the rest of the team includign a UNICEF representative were grateful to Blue Ventures for the help they received.

The European Union is funding a project that takes an exciting step in the direction of sustainable tuna fishing. Tuna stocks are rapidly depleting at present owing to overfishing. In a new scheme, costing around $10 million approximately 80 000 tuna in the Indian Ocean are being tagged. A $10 reward is then given to any fisherman who hands over a tagged fish to local scientists and the fish is returned to the fisherman. This is a kind of pre-emptive strike owing to the fact that currently 20 times more tuna are caught today than they were 50 years ago and if no action is taken it won’t be long until they disappear altogether.

Irish, British and Norwegian marine experts have reported that Spanish fisherman are devastating the number of deep-water sharks in the northeast Atlantic. This is due to unregulated fishing techniques that will often involve trawlers leaving nets unattended for weeks, in an attempt to maximise profits. However the outcome is that half of the catches are left to rot, causing needless waste. Trawlers have also been known to dump nets that are damaged, which can lead to sea life being ensnared on the seabed, with no way of escaping. An Irish Sea Fisheries Board vessel went trawling for these abandoned nets and found 25 miles of nets, each of which averaged about 100 yards in length.

The problem lies in the fact that what these fishermen are doing is not in fact illegal. EU regulations presently do not have tight enough restrictions to prevent this method of fishing from being employed.

This is a situation that that needs to be acted on…