{"id":8441,"date":"2017-02-22T12:06:05","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T12:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/?p=8441"},"modified":"2019-01-31T10:39:51","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T10:39:51","slug":"dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/","title":{"rendered":"Dingadigana: an alternative livelihood opportunity in northwest Madagascar"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ambiky and Abolobozo are small coastal villages in Ambanja Bay, Northwest Madagascar, and the communities here, like coastal communities throughout Madagascar, are highly dependent on traditional small-scale fisheries for their livelihoods and dietary protein. However, due to the increasing pressures of global overfishing and climate change, coastal communities worldwide are having to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/aquaculture-in-profile-3\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">diversify their livelihoods in order to survive<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and Ambiky and Ambolobozo are no exceptions. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both villages have responded to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/blueventures.org\/conservation\/aquaculture\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">critical need for alternative livelihoods<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by engaging in sea cucumber farming, locally called \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dingadigana<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d, with technical support from Blue Ventures. Sea cucumber farming is a promising livelihood, because sea cucumbers are currently the most valuable marine product in the country. Most people from coastal communities in Madagascar earn, on average, less than $2\/day, but due to a high East Asian demand the largest sea cucumbers can be sold for up to $6!<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 333px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 448px; height: 337px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/ambiky_sc_farm_construction_1\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8448\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1201\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_1-476x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_1-643x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_1-444x333.jpg\" width=\"444\" height=\"333\" align=\"left\" title=\"Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_1\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 444px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 444\/333;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Constructing the sea cucumber pens in Ambiky | Photo: Justine Maillot<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 447px; height: 337px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/ambiky_sc_farm_construction_3\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8449\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_3.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1201\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_3\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_3-476x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_3-643x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_3-443x333.jpg\" width=\"443\" height=\"333\" align=\"left\" title=\"Ambiky_SC_Farm_Construction_3\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 443px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 443\/333;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Constructing the sea cucumber pens in Ambiky | Photo: Justine Maillot<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"pull-right\">After seven months of growing in pens, sea cucumbers can be sold for up to 50 times the price of immature individuals!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This high value and demand has led to wild sea cucumbers being unsustainably over-exploited, with production dropping by 87% between 1995 and 2014. It is no longer possible to make a living harvesting wild sea cucumbers as mostly only small and low-value individuals remain. However, the market value of sea cucumbers increases exponentially with size, so <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/explore.blueventures.org\/farming-the-sea\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">farming them is an innovative solution<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently we visited both Ambiky and Ambolobozo to assess the progress that had been made in the first six months of sea cucumber farming. Walking out to the pens at low tide, we got to see for ourselves the impressive results of the villagers\u2019 efforts. Each village has constructed one large farming pen, divided into three 100m<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> sections, and each pen has a surrounding fence about 70cm high, and the ability to support 350g\/m<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of sea cucumber.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To help them build on this positive start, we were able to offer some technical advice. Some sea cucumbers have the ability to swell with water and become neutrally buoyant, allowing them to leave the pens with the outgoing tide, but this can be avoided by constructing fences with a slight overhang.<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 285px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 511px; height: 289px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/ambiky-pens\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8450\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky-pens.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ambiky pens\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky-pens-635x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky-pens-745x419.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambiky-pens-507x285.jpg\" width=\"507\" height=\"285\" align=\"left\" title=\"Ambiky pens\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 507px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 507\/285;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">The completed sea cucumber pen in Ambiky | Photo: Adrian Levrel<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 384px; height: 289px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/reaching-the-village_ambolobozo\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8451\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Reaching-the-village_Ambolobozo.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Reaching the village_Ambolobozo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Reaching-the-village_Ambolobozo-476x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Reaching-the-village_Ambolobozo-644x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Reaching-the-village_Ambolobozo-380x285.jpg\" width=\"380\" height=\"285\" align=\"left\" title=\"Reaching the village_Ambolobozo\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 380px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 380\/285;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">The Blue Ventures team on the road to Ambolobozo<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We were also able to witness the monitoring process that happens twice a month during spring low tide. Late at night, once the sea cucumbers had emerged from the mud, the villagers weighed all of the sea cucumbers according to specific sampling protocols in order to accurately monitor the fattening progress. They found that in some of the pens, the sea cucumbers have been growing as fast as 2.2 g\/day, a very high rate even when compared to semi-intensive sea cucumber farms in other countries!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maintaining these high rates of growth is not an easy task, and can be demanding for the communities: the pens require regular cleaning, the monitoring can only occur at night when the sea cucumbers emerge, security guards have to look after the pens every night to prevent thefts, and all potential predators such as crabs must be removed from the pens.<\/span><\/p>\n<div data-carousel-extra='{\"blog_id\":1,\"permalink\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blog.blueventures.org\\\/en\\\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\\\/\"}' class=\"tiled-gallery type-rectangular\" data-original-width=\"900\"><div class=\"gallery-row\" style=\"width: 895px; height: 430px;\"><div class=\"gallery-group images-1\" style=\"width: 577px; height: 434px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/nantenaina-data-collection-ambolobozo\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8443\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Nantenaina-Data-collection-Ambolobozo.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Nantenaina- Data collection Ambolobozo\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Nantenaina-Data-collection-Ambolobozo-476x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Nantenaina-Data-collection-Ambolobozo-644x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Nantenaina-Data-collection-Ambolobozo-573x430.jpg\" width=\"573\" height=\"430\" align=\"left\" title=\"Nantenaina- Data collection Ambolobozo\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 573px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 573\/430;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Blue Ventures&#8217; Nantenaina helping with the data collection in Ambolobozo<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"gallery-group images-2\" style=\"width: 318px; height: 434px;\"><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/ambolobozo-pens-data-collection\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8442\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambolobozo-pens-data-collection.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,1208\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Ambolobozo pens, data collection\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambolobozo-pens-data-collection-473x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambolobozo-pens-data-collection-640x483.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Ambolobozo-pens-data-collection-314x237.jpg\" width=\"314\" height=\"237\" align=\"left\" title=\"Ambolobozo pens, data collection\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 314px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 314\/237;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Monitoring can only occur at night<\/div><\/div><div class=\"tiled-gallery-item tiled-gallery-item-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/en\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/sea-cucumber-ambolobozo-mihari\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"8444\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Sea-cucumber-Ambolobozo-MIHARI.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1600,960\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Sea cucumber-Ambolobozo- MIHARI\" data-image-description=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Sea-cucumber-Ambolobozo-MIHARI-595x357.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Sea-cucumber-Ambolobozo-MIHARI-745x447.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/blog.blueventures.org\/media\/2017\/01\/Sea-cucumber-Ambolobozo-MIHARI-314x189.jpg\" width=\"314\" height=\"189\" align=\"left\" title=\"Sea cucumber-Ambolobozo- MIHARI\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 314px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 314\/189;\" \/><\/a><div class=\"tiled-gallery-caption\">Rewarded for their efforts!<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The time spent working on these sea cucumber farms is time that could be spent fishing, but the villagers have been working hard regardless, and the hope is that they will be rewarded for their efforts with a sustainable alternative income. There is also a chance that the aggregation of many sexually mature sea cucumbers in the pens may help with sea cucumber repopulation in nearby areas.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The villagers of Ambiky and Ambolobozo may not be able to control the rate of climate change, or the number of foreign fishing vessels off the coast of Madagascar, but through hard work, perseverance and a willingness to adapt they are taking positive steps towards an alternative and sustainable livelihood.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The sea cucumber farms in Ambiky and Amboloboze are supported financially by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.giz.de\/en\/worldwide\/322.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GIZ<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and the <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/helmsleytrust.org\/programs\/place-based-conservation\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Helmsley Charitable Trust<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Credit for all photos in this blog goes to Andry Randriambololona unless otherwise specified in the caption.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As fisheries face unprecedented pressures, coastal communities are looking for economic opportunities beyond fishing. The villages of Ambiky and Ambolobozo have responded with an innovative and promising new aquaculture project: sea cucumber farming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":8446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[372,469],"tags":[565,566,529,495],"class_list":["post-8441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ambanja-madagascar","category-aquaculture-projects","tag-aquaculture","tag-diversifying-livelihoods","tag-madagascar-2","tag-sea-cucumber"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dingadigana: an alternative livelihood opportunity in northwest Madagascar - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As fisheries face unprecedented pressures, coastal communities are looking for economic opportunities beyond fishing. The villages of Ambiky and Ambolobozo have responded with an innovative and promising new aquaculture project: sea cucumber farming.\" \/>\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\/dingadigana-alternative-livelihood-opportunity-northwest-madagascar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dingadigana: an alternative livelihood opportunity in northwest Madagascar - Blue Ventures - Beyond Conservation blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As fisheries face unprecedented pressures, coastal communities are looking for economic opportunities beyond fishing. 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