All posts by Al Harris

Al is BV's founder and executive director. A marine ecologist with an unhealthy obsession for corals, he has spent the past decade developing conservation initiatives in the Indian Ocean, and led his first marine research expedition to Madagascar in 2001.

Open source conservation

Blue Ventures' Al Harris writes his thoughts on the future of conservation from the front line of our work in Madagascar.

/ Apr 16, 2015

Staff Q&A with Alasdair Harris, Founder and Research Director

In the fourth instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Alasdair Harris, our Founder and Research Director, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your scientific background? As an undergraduate I studied...

/ May 15, 2013

When there are no more fish in the sea

Cuaming Island, Philippines Rogelio Angco traces the neat rows of numbers with his finger as he recounts the details of the ‘Barangay Profile’; the chart framed above his desk. This table keeps a meticulous record of the makeup of the...

/ May 3, 2013

The overwhelming economic case for protecting our seas

This post first appeared on the @SynchEarth blog on 5 April 2013 by Alasdair Harris, Research Director, UK Easter weekend saw the end of the UK government’s 3-month public consultation on the designation of new marine conservation areas around the coasts...

/ Apr 5, 2013

BV’s science informs and engages at the International Coral Reef Symposium

By Dr Tom Oliver, Scientific Advisor to Blue Ventures, Hawaii and Dr Al Harris, Research Director, London. Every four years, the world is brought together by not one, but two kinds of summer Olympics, that build the international ties that...

/ Oct 19, 2012

Diving into the unknown

By Alasdair Harris, BV’s Founder & Research Director, Madagascar The vast reef systems that lie off western Madagascar are some of the least known coral reefs in the western part of the Indian Ocean. Shimmering mountains of calcium carbonate trace the...

/ Nov 21, 2011

From southern Madagascar to Rodrigues: promoting dialogue to share lessons learned in fisheries management

By Alasdair Harris, BV’s Founder and Research Director, Antananarivo, Madagascar Throughout southern Madagascar, temporary closures of octopus fishing grounds are emerging as a popular management tool for this economically important fishery. In southwest Madagascar alone, over 100 such fishery closures...

/ May 24, 2011

Descending the mighty Mangoky

By Alasdair Harris, BV’s Founder and Research Director, Antananarivo, Madagascar The mighty Mangoky river, perhaps best known for its rich mangrove delta bordering the Mozambique Channel, is Madagascar’s biggest, starting its journey in the central highlands near Fianarantsoa, descending between...

/ Mar 9, 2011