Tag: octopus
Tsy manavaky: female fishers find strength through learning
By Olivia Kemp, Sustainable Fisheries Programme Manager, Toliara, Madagascar Andavadoaka beach, 6am. As our team loaded up the comarine pirogue with our gear, we scanned the cloudy skies for signs of what weather surprises might be in store for us...
Staff Q&A with Fanjavola Rakotozafy, Community Liaison Officer
In the seventeenth instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Fanjavola Rakotozafy, community liaison officer for our sustainable fisheries programme, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your professional background? I studied Geography at the University of...
Coast-to-coast fisher exchange: from reef octopus to spiny lobster
Lobster fishers from Sainte Luce travelled almost 1,000 kilometres across southern Madagascar to learn from Velondriake’s experience of temporary octopus closures Blue Ventures is working to support some of Madagascar’s most isolated coastal communities to manage their fisheries and marine resources. Starting with a...
Staff Q&A with Sophie Benbow, Sustainable Fisheries Programme Manager, Madagascar
In the eleventh instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Sophie Benbow, our Sustainable Fisheries Programme Manager, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your background? I originally started, as I think...
Introducing Lily Mesnik: future conservation superstar
We are proud to introduce Lily Mesnik, an amazing young woman from the USA. Several months ago Lily contacted us out the blue, and all under her own initiative, because she wanted to raise money for our conservation work in Madagascar....
Staff Q&A with Gildas Andriamalala, Assistant Conservation Coordinator
In the eighth instalment in our series of Q&As with Blue Ventures staff, we ask Gildas Andriamalala, our Assistant Conservation Coordinator, some searching questions about science, conservation and superpowers… What is your background? I spent four years of my life studying private...
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...
The highs and lows of the octopus project
by Sophie Andriamalala, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar For the last two weeks the octopus team in Toliara have spent 10 hours a day staring at our computer screens and cleaning, checking and organising over 900 notebooks filled to the brim with...
Asian delights
This is part 2 of the blog series on our recent trip to Hong Kong for the annual Seafood Summit. Read part 1 here: http://blog.blueventures.org/from-toliaras-sights-to-hong-kongs-bright-lights/ by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar Visiting Hong Kong, ‘Asia’s World City’ as the tourism board...
From Toliara’s sights to Hong Kong’s bright lights
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar Arriving in Hong Kong direct from Toliara, southwest Madagascar highlighted some fairly stark contrasts. While Toliara is in fact the sixth largest city in Madagascar, bright lights and fast cars it is not....
Smartfish-eries and marine protected areas
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar I recently travelled to Mauritius to attend a workshop funded by the FAO and the EU funded Smartfish programme. A very exciting opportunity which generated some very jealous comments from my UK based...
Mapping the octopus: road tripping south of Toliara
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar On a recent trip to the south of Toliara I seem to have confirmed the stupidity of domestic livestock. Drive past a herd of grazing zebu and they may look up with a...
The path to sustainability for developing world fisheries…
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar On February 13th 2012 I attended a conference organised by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to discuss issues faced by developing world fisheries when it comes to eco-label certification. The MSC logo, the...
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...