{"id":2656,"date":"2012-04-20T14:03:34","date_gmt":"2012-04-20T13:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bvblog.wpengine.com\/?p=2656"},"modified":"2014-04-25T18:59:26","modified_gmt":"2014-04-25T17:59:26","slug":"patsa-express","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/","title":{"rendered":"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brian Jones, Belo-sur-Mer Project Coordinator,\u00a0Madagascar<\/p>\n

If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types), a tiny shrimp sometimes referred to as \u201cpaste shrimp\u201d, has found its way to this fishing village of a few hundred people in western Madagascar, and in a big way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a tough year for us here, and this is Zanahary\u2019s* way of saving us<\/em>,\u201d said Jean-Francois grinning from ear-to-ear during a brief break from the action. And with that he\u2019s back at it, carved features and sinewy frame, etched from a lifetime on the sea, gliding up and down the beach. He sporadically barks orders to his sons about how to position the net around the swarming shrimp and tending to his neatly kept, and ever-growing, pile of slimy crustaceans on the beach.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The fishers looking at their haul<\/p><\/div>\n

The patsa have been here for about a week now, with teams bringing in up to 50kg (110lbs) in a day. After being dried, the shrimp fetch around $0.60 per kilo, with local entrepreneurs scrambling to buy up as much as they can for sale in the regional market in Morondava. For these usually subsistence fishers, a good turnout of patsa can bring in more than a month\u2019s earnings in the course of a few days. This rare infusion of cash is often used for big-ticket items like obtaining a new canoe, purchasing some new nets, or mending houses.<\/p>\n

No one is left out of the fun, with men, women and children all flocking to the beach to take part in the harvest. Your faithful author declined, citing fear of ruining his expensive camera as an excuse, but the real reason being that I just couldn\u2019t see where the darn things were for the life of me.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Everyone was joining in the fun<\/p><\/div>\n

Me (hopeless white guy): \u201cWhere are they?<\/em>\u201d
\nVezo Fisher: \u201cRight there, you see them?<\/em>\u201d
\nHWG (unconvincingly): \u201cUhh\u2026 yeah<\/em>\u201d
\nVF (skeptical): \u201cSo where are they now?<\/em>\u201d
\nHWG (even less convincingly): \u201cUmm\u2026 there?”<\/em> (pointing)
\nVF (incredulous): \u201cWow, how are you not seeing them?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The weapon of choice is a 3-4 meter length of mosquito netting – anything made with a wider mesh would only serve as a speed-bump for the tiny buggers, providing the holders of the net with precious little more than a wet pair of shorts for their troubles. A loop on the bottom corner is hooked around one\u2019s big toe, and the top of the net held by hand as teams of two in chest-deep water, just beyond the breaking waves, work the nets into place, gradually closing them around the swarm and pulling in their prize.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The fishers use mosquito nets to catch the patsa<\/p><\/div>\n

A few weeks ago I was on a site development trip to a small village near Mahajanga, roughly 800km north of Antanimanimbo, where I was speaking with some fishers about what species they catch in their mangroves. They mentioned patsa as well, noting that they tend to catch small amounts here and there throughout the year but that the species was mysteriously absent around the months of February through April. Right around the time they bombard the southwest coast.<\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m no marine scientist (as any of the marine scientists who have had the pleasure of working with me will undoubtedly attest to), but could it be that these northern mangroves are the source for this annual migration, making its way down to Toliara in the southwest, covering over 1,200 kilometres of coast?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

With the patsa catch local people can buy luxuries they couldn’t buy otherwise<\/p><\/div>\n

Researchers and those generally in-the-know on such matters speak much of connectivity, and how \u201cislands\u201d of conservation aren\u2019t sufficient, making the case for networks of Marine Protected Areas, representing all key habitats. The reason they say, is that many important species cover large geographic ranges and utilise multiple habitats throughout their life cycle. A localised reserve may only afford such a species protection for one period in their life cycle. The roving schools of patsa, the Vezo\u2019s proverbial bumper crop and Jean Francois\u2019 new roof, may provide a perfect example of just how true this is.<\/p>\n

* Zanahary<\/em> is the creator in traditional Malagasy beliefs & mythology.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brian Jones, Belo-sur-Mer Project Coordinator,\u00a0Madagascar If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types), a tiny shrimp sometimes referred to as \u201cpaste shrimp\u201d, has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":2667,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,463,338,468],"tags":[480,484,487,510],"class_list":["post-2656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belo-sur-mer-madagascar","category-featured","category-lmma","category-fisheries","tag-networking-communities","tag-rebuilding-fisheries","tag-rights-based-management","tag-small-scale-fisheries"],"yoast_head":"\nThe patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it) - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Brian Jones. If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it) - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Brian Jones. If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-20T13:03:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-04-25T17:59:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/04\/Patsa-61.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"499\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@blueventures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Jones\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brian Jones\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f576f02c58579769b77c7eba5cedf595\"},\"headline\":\"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it)\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-20T13:03:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-25T17:59:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":763,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/Patsa-61.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"networking communities\",\"rebuilding fisheries\",\"rights-based management\",\"small-scale fisheries\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Belo-sur-Mer\",\"Don't Miss\",\"LMMA\",\"Rebuilding Fisheries\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/\",\"name\":\"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it) - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/Patsa-61.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-20T13:03:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-25T17:59:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f576f02c58579769b77c7eba5cedf595\"},\"description\":\"By Brian Jones. If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types)\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/Patsa-61.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/media\\\/2012\\\/04\\\/Patsa-61.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":499},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/patsa-express\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\",\"description\":\"Voices from the front line of marine conversation\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f576f02c58579769b77c7eba5cedf595\",\"name\":\"Brian Jones\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/451b65955950a463b8e4419a087b95aa6ae90ee320df75c68f8beff5e21cf3db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/451b65955950a463b8e4419a087b95aa6ae90ee320df75c68f8beff5e21cf3db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/451b65955950a463b8e4419a087b95aa6ae90ee320df75c68f8beff5e21cf3db?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian Jones\"},\"description\":\"Brian is our semi-nomadic conservation coordinator, currently based in the coastal city of Toliara. He's been working with communities in Madagascar on conservation and sustainable natural resource management since 2006, speaks fluent Malagasy, and is a talented photographer.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/author\\\/brian\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it) - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"By Brian Jones. If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it) - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","og_description":"By Brian Jones. If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types)","og_url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/","og_site_name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","article_published_time":"2012-04-20T13:03:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-04-25T17:59:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":499,"url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/04\/Patsa-61.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brian Jones","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@blueventures","twitter_site":"@blueventures","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian Jones","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/"},"author":{"name":"Brian Jones","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f576f02c58579769b77c7eba5cedf595"},"headline":"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it)","datePublished":"2012-04-20T13:03:34+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-25T17:59:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/"},"wordCount":763,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/04\/Patsa-61.jpg","keywords":["networking communities","rebuilding fisheries","rights-based management","small-scale fisheries"],"articleSection":["Belo-sur-Mer","Don't Miss","LMMA","Rebuilding Fisheries"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/","name":"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it) - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/04\/Patsa-61.jpg","datePublished":"2012-04-20T13:03:34+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-25T17:59:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f576f02c58579769b77c7eba5cedf595"},"description":"By Brian Jones. If the village of Antanimanimbo had a street, they\u2019d be dancing in it. The annual migration of patsa (Acetes erythraeus for you sciency types)","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/04\/Patsa-61.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2012\/04\/Patsa-61.jpg","width":1600,"height":499},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/patsa-express\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The patsa express comes to Antanimanimbo (though I would have never noticed it)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/","name":"Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog","description":"Voices from the front line of marine conversation","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/f576f02c58579769b77c7eba5cedf595","name":"Brian Jones","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/451b65955950a463b8e4419a087b95aa6ae90ee320df75c68f8beff5e21cf3db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/451b65955950a463b8e4419a087b95aa6ae90ee320df75c68f8beff5e21cf3db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/451b65955950a463b8e4419a087b95aa6ae90ee320df75c68f8beff5e21cf3db?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian Jones"},"description":"Brian is our semi-nomadic conservation coordinator, currently based in the coastal city of Toliara. He's been working with communities in Madagascar on conservation and sustainable natural resource management since 2006, speaks fluent Malagasy, and is a talented photographer.","url":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/author\/brian\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}