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...
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...
Rediscovering Malagasy wildlife
by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar I have become a city girl again. My move to Toliara, the capital of the southwest region after two years in Andavadoaka, a small fishing village has dramatically reduced my exposure to nature...
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...
“Des Baleines et des Hommes”
By Sophie Benbow, Marine Science Coordinator, Toliara, Madagascar In total, 11 species of marine mammal have been sighted in the coastal waters around Madagascar. Of these, the most abundant and most frequently sighted are the humpback whales which visit Madagascar...