Search
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Envelope
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Envelope

Latest

News & stories

Boosting fisher benefits through greater fisheries revenue transparency

In Madagascar, public authorities, fishers, and civil society organisations are working towards improving fisheries transparency and governance. Together, they want to ensure sustainable and fair management of stocks, and enhance the value of a sector that represents between five and seven percent of the country’s GDP, on which hundreds of thousands of small-scale fishers depend for food.

Established in 2016, the National Coalition for Environmental Advocacy (CNPE) brings together around 40 groups, including federations of community associations, local organisations and NGOs, that are committed to securing better governance of natural resources in Madagascar through advocacy. Ms. Corrine Huynh RAHOELIARISOA, National Coordinator of the CNPE, explains the recent progress in fisheries transparency in Madagascar, and what the next steps are.

Why is fisheries transparency essential for small-scale fishers?

For small-scale fishers, transparency means knowing where you are going, and having better access to information to get reliable answers to vital questions: What are the states of fish stocks, and how much can we still exploit and allocate to fishing companies? What is the impact of current exploitation patterns, and is this sustainable for fishers, especially small-scale fishers? If this information is shared transparently, the sector’s main participants can have discussions, emphasise what is at stake, call for individual responsibility, and participate in monitoring.

There are still a lack of accurate and consolidated assessments of Madagascar’s fishing stocks and their economic potential. But it is clear that marine life is under great pressure, and that coastal communities depend on fish resources for their livelihoods. This is why transparency is one of the CNPE’s priorities. At stake is the equitable and sustainable sharing of the benefits and returns from the fisheries sector.

To achieve this, transparency of information around fisheries agreements is critical 

It is important to note that transparency was lacking in the fisheries sector until the current Ministry came in and made concrete commitments. It was challenging to get information before. In 2019, the CNPE was one of the groups pointing out that many fisheries agreements were opaque, because their content, and sometimes even their existence, was unknown. The Treasury received royalty payments and did not publicise amounts. We lobbied to participate in the process of negotiating fisheries agreements, at least as an observer, and last year we won the case.

We feel that we are on the right track and hope progress will continue to have better information for small-scale fishers. When civil society organisations (CSOs) participate in negotiations, they are obliged to pass on information to their members, and to do so in a clear and accessible way. From there, small-scale fishers can know the areas, times and vessels involved in fisheries agreements and participate in coastal surveillance. They also have the information they need to negotiate and claim their rights to sectoral aid payments through these agreements,  particularly to strengthen local fishing infrastructure.

However, it remains a challenge to inform all fishers in the country, who often live in remote, isolated areas, and far from communication channels. This is why we want to work more with MIHARI, the network of Madagascar’s LMMAs. We need to further strengthen synergy between organisations.

What drives your commitment to transparency?

We want to ensure that the income from fishing benefits small-scale fishers by using information transparency.

For example, most small-scale fishers, who live far from the coast, depend on a few collectors to buy their products, so are not in strong bargaining positions. Knowing the quantity periodically exported and the income generated for each fishery (crab, sea cucumber, octopus, shrimp and more) at the national level could help establish fair guides or even minimum prices for their catches. I think this is achievable. The Ministry has already set up quotas and determined minimum prices for crab, so that collectors do not impose a price on fishers that is too low. This model could be replicated in other fisheries. But there are still big challenges regarding implementation and monitoring. If we decide on something but don’t ensure that it is implemented, it is like it doesn’t exist. 

There are not many Ministry representatives in the regions, so this is where CSOs can take over, for example, to support setting up reporting mechanisms when reference prices are not respected and to propose joint patrols that will enforce the law where necessary. The CNPE is already working with the National Fisheries Monitoring Centre to ensure the application of fisheries laws and transparency in the sector when there are breaches.

How could more transparency support these monitoring efforts?

I have never seen a comprehensive national report on fisheries infractions in Madagascar. Yet this would allow everyone to know the categories and volume of violations, welcome progress and identify gaps in the application of laws and the fishing code. Such a report would also allow for the monitoring of fines collected. And it would encourage small-scale fishers to share their information on infractions.

Small-scale fishers are mobilised to carry out community surveillance to strengthen monitoring and control, but lack the means to do so. For their patrols, they need binoculars, including night ones to see the boats, boots, GPS and phones, and money to cover their travel and communication costs to secure and report information. In remote coastal areas, sharing information by mobile phone remains the best and often only means of communication with the outside world.

What systems would make it easier to access and share information?

We suggest that Madagascar sets up a national website for sharing data on strategic resources such as fisheries. USAID, through the Hay Tao project, has recently initiated Hay Natiora, an online platform to manage environmental information related to marine and terrestrial resources for the benefit of all users. Such a website would not be accessible to all small-scale fishers, but it could at least enable CSOs to obtain and disseminate to fishers the most reliable and up-to-date information they need. The CNPE also identified the need for better accessibility of information on fisheries legislation, including practical guides and posters for communities.

A major challenge is also establishing processes for sharing information on catches and infractions by small-scale fishers. Demanding transparency without being transparent yourself is useless, and we discuss this with communities. It is essential to know the impact of small-scale fishing on the resources and on their livelihoods. Last December, in the Menabe [west coast of Madagascar], a federation of small-scale fishers told us: “Now we too must provide more transparent data”. Everyone welcomed this statement, knowing that it was right. A lot of people say it, but now we have to do it. It comes back to the question of the means of monitoring, surveillance and control. Maybe small-scale fishers need to get together more, to share reliable and solid information.

To what extent are small-scale fishers consulted and included in national fisheries governance today?

Last December, Madagascar became the third candidate country in the world for the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI). To prepare for this candidacy, the government set up consultation mechanisms with fishers and civil society at all stages of the process, which allowed for real synergy between stakeholders. The Ministry also set up a Blue Economy and Ocean Governance Cluster, which CNPE participates in as a CSO representing fishing communities in particular.

Notably, the current Minister is a technical and scientific expert in fisheries who comes from civil society which is a considerable advantage because he knows the vital need for transparency to develop the sector. Small-scale fishers tell us that they are seeing changes in fisheries governance, including being better consulted, invited to more meetings and feeling more heard. This gives them hope, even if the problem of implementing laws persists at local level, despite efforts. Now, progress in terms of transparency must  have a concrete impact on their lives and on the Malagasy population in general.

Go Back
Story type
Post tags
, , , , ,
Follow the latest
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin
Get updates
Share this:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Email

Related news & stories

Explore all
News & stories

Join a global movement
Take action for the ocean
Get started
Latest
Get quarterly updates
Follow us
Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
X

Senegal

Fishing and the collection of shellfish is central to the lives of most coastal dwellers in Senegal, and seafood is part of almost every meal in Senegal. Massive overfishing by both industrial and artisanal fleets, as well as an increasing export of fish meal for aquaculture, is threatening a way of life and food security in the country, as fish stocks dwindle.

The work of Blue Ventures in Senegal is focused mainly in the southern Casamance region of the country, home to hundreds of thousands of hectares of fish-rich mangroves. We have teamed with Kawawana, Senegal’s oldest LMMA, to help protect the 15,000 hectares of mangroves under its community management, and to help monitor and manage the rich fisheries and oyster collection in the mangroves. We are also working with other communities to put in place community-based fisheries management systems, focusing particularly on the oyster and shellfish collection that is a primary economic activity for many women in Casamance.

Guinea-Bissau

The West African country of Guinea-Bissau is home to the unique Bijagos archipelago, a network of some ninety mangrove-fringed offshore islands and extensive mudflats supporting large amounts of migratory bird species, as well as megafauna such as manatees, dolphins, and sea turtles. The Bijagos people continue to live a very traditional lifestyle, where the collection of marine invertebrates plays an important role in food security and cultural traditions. The country is also home to extensive mangrove-fringed river systems that support rich fisheries.

Blue Ventures is working with Tiniguena, one of the oldest conservation groups in Guinea-Bissau, in supporting the first community-led MPA in the country, UROK, in the Bijagos islands. Together with Tiniguena, we are also supporting the establishment of new community-led conservation initiatives in the Rio Grande de Buba, a vast mangrove ecosystem with a long history of community-led fisheries management. Our focus is on data-driven community-led management of fisheries, which are of enormous importance to coastal communities, in particular women.

Thailand

Thailand’s small-scale fisheries are the cornerstone of social, economic and nutritional health for the communities living along the majority of the country’s nearly 3,000 kilometre coastline.

In the southernmost Trang province we are supporting communities reliant on nearshore fisheries − in particular for crab, shrimp and squid − in partnership with the Save Andaman Network (SAN). The region is renowned for its vibrant seagrass meadows and vast mangrove forests, which provide essential ecosystem services to coastal communities.  We’re providing training and tools to aid community- led fisheries monitoring and ecosystem management, and building community-owned social enterprises that fund and sustain local conservation efforts.

Timor-Leste

Since 2016, our work in Timor-Leste has evolved into a dynamic movement supporting community-led marine management and coastal livelihood diversification in Asia’s newest country. From our origins on Atauro Island, considered to harbour the most diverse coral reefs on earth, we’re now working with numerous communities on the island and the mainland to help improve management of critical coral reefs and seagrass ecosystems.

We’re helping communities reinvigorate traditional community governance practices − known as Tara Bandu − to support marine conservation, in particular through the use of temporary and permanent fishing closures, and community-led monitoring of marine ecosystems and fisheries.

We’re helping communities come together to exchange their experiences of conservation across their shared coastline, building a new movement of local support for systems change in the management and conservation of Timor-Leste’s coastal waters.

Alongside our community conservation efforts, we have also pioneered Timor-Leste’s first homestay association, which has provided income from visiting ecotourists on Atauro Island.

Our team in Timor-Leste’s capital Dili works closely with government, civil society organisations and NGO partners.

Tanzania

Like its neighbours within the Northern Mozambique Channel marine biodiversity hotspot, Tanzania harbours some of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the Indian Ocean. These habitats are facing unprecedented challenges from overfishing and climate change.

Our Tanzanian team has worked with communities and local organisations to support locally-led marine conservation since 2016. Our work has expanded from Zanzibar to mainland regions of Tanga, Lindi and Kilwa where our technicians work with local partners to help communities strengthen co-management systems, working through beach management units (BMUs), Shehia Fishing Committees (SFCs), marine parks and Collaborative Fisheries Management Areas (CFMAs).

Our partners Mwambao Coastal Community Network and Sea Sense have spearheaded a remarkable acceleration in the uptake of community-based fisheries management and conservation in recent years, notably through the use of short term fisheries closures to catalyse broader community conservation.

In Kilwa we are working with Songosongo BMU to manage octopus closures and marketing, with the district authorities and NYAMANJISOPJA CFMA to help BMUs strengthen financial management capacity, and with Kilwa BMU Network to revive and expand the network.

Following the conclusion of the SWIOFish project in 2021, we are working with partners on a follow-up initiative to support the establishment and functioning of a fisheries co-management forum. The forum will facilitate engagement between national and local government authorities and NGOs involved in fisheries co-management initiatives along the Tanzania mainland coast, with the aim of enhancing networking and strengthening management and governance.

Somalia

With one of Africa’s longest coastlines, Somalia’s diverse marine environment supports enormously productive coastal and offshore fisheries.  Decades of conflict have undermined the country’s capacity for fisheries management, with many foreign industrial vessels fishing with impunity, and little regard for the critical importance of Somalia’s coastal fisheries for local livelihoods and food security.

A period of relative political and social stability unprecedented in recent decades is now presenting new opportunities to address past challenges, and to realise the considerable opportunities that well-managed coastal fisheries and conservation can offer Somalia. We are forging partnerships with community organisations in Somalia to build their capacity and skills to help coastal communities manage their fisheries for food security, livelihoods and conservation.

Philippines

The Philippines forms part of the ‘coral triangle’ epicentre of global marine biodiversity, with unparalleled diversity of marine species.  Over half of the country’s 107 million people live in rural areas, and approximately three quarters depend on agriculture or fisheries as their primary source of livelihoods.

Through our partnership with People and the Sea, we are supporting communities in the eastern Visayas to set up and utilise participatory data systems to monitor and understand the status of their fisheries, in a way that is meaningful for them. Through provision of access to strong data systems and training in data collection this year, these communities will soon have access to real time fisheries data and visualisations that will enable them to make informed decisions around the management of their fisheries.

Indonesia

Indonesia comprises almost 17,500 islands stretching across three time zones. This archipelagic nation has the 2nd longest coastline in the world − and the largest coastal fisheries resource − of any country on Earth. More than ninety percent of Indonesia’s seafood production comes from small-scale fisheries, which are underpinned by the planet’s most biodiverse marine ecosystem, known as the Coral Triangle.

We have supported community-led marine conservation in Indonesia since 2016. Our team works in close partnership with 17 Indonesian organisations supporting community-based approaches to coral reef and mangrove conservation across 71 communities in fourteen provinces. Our support across these communities is customised to each context − the local fisheries, community stakeholders, seafood supply chains, legal frameworks and customary traditions governing fisheries management and conservation.

Since 2019 we have brought these partners together within a peer learning network of Indonesian organisations specialised in supporting community-based marine conservation. The network is based around the shared values of the organisations, including a commitment to promote the rights of traditional fishing communities in conservation. Thirty two of the villages represented in this group are enacting local marine management through customary management regimes and traditions. This group, largely comprising sites in Eastern Indonesia, provides an important opportunity to share learning in traditional marine and fisheries management practices.

In Sumatra and Kalimantan we are strengthening our work in community conservation of globally important mangrove forests. We are supporting and strengthening community-forest management and supporting local partners who are adapting our catalytic model for temporary fishery closures to mangrove dependent fisheries like mud crab.

Our local operations in Indonesia are delivered in partnership with our sister Indonesian organisation Yayasan Pesisir Lestari, based in Bali, working closely with our local partners Forkani, Yayasan LINI, Yayasan KALI, Yapeka, Yayasan Planet Indonesia, Foneb, Komanangi, JARI, Ecosystem Impact, Yayasan Tananua Flores, Yayasan Baileo Maluku, AKAR, Japesda,  Yayasan Citra Mandiri Mentawai, IOJI, Yayasan Mitra Insani and Yayasan Hutan Biru.

Find out more

India

We continue to work in India with our long term partner the Dakshin Foundation. We are collaborating in three distinct locations; the archipelago of Lakshadweep, coastal regions of Odisha and the Andaman Islands. 

Overfishing has led to a reduction in fish catches, challenging the future of many traditional fishing communities.

Our partnership is working to build the capacity of communities to manage coastal fisheries,  and improve the health of fishing communities, for the long-term wellbeing of both the communities and their fishing grounds.

Kenya

Kenya’s coast supports an extraordinary diversity of tropical marine and coastal habitats.  These  waters are threatened by a proliferation of destructive fishing practices and over-harvesting within the artisanal and commercial fishing sectors.

Our approach in Kenya focuses on strengthening Beach Management Units (BMUs) to improve fisheries management.  Since 2016 our Mombasa-based technical team has provided support, mentoring and assistance to local partners including Coastal and Marine Resource Development (COMRED), the Lamu Marine Conservation Trust (LAMCOT), and Bahari Hai.

These partnerships have seen notable achievements in community-led fisheries management and conservation, including training and mentoring BMU leaders in eighteen communities in Kwale and Lamu Counties.

Comoros

The Comoros islands are located in the northern Mozambique Channel, a region home to the world’s second highest marine biodiversity after the Coral Triangle. This globally important biodiversity underpins coastal livelihoods and food security, but is at risk from climate change and overexploitation of inshore fisheries.

We have maintained a permanent presence supporting locally led marine conservation and fisheries management in Comoros since 2015, providing support to local partners, governmental institutions and communities.

On Anjouan, the second largest and most densely populated island in the Comoros archipelago, we work closely with national NGO Dahari. Our partnership has developed a replicable blueprint for community-based marine management, which has seen the creation of the country’s first locally managed marine areas − including temporary and permanent marine closures − designed to safeguard the coral reef ecosystems underpinning the archipelago’s coastal economy.

This approach, which is expanding rapidly across the Comoros, is also demonstrating the importance of inclusive conservation in empowering women − through local women’s fisheries associations − to play a leading role in fisheries monitoring and decision making.

Belize

Belize’s marine environment encompasses some of the most diverse marine ecosystems in the Caribbean Sea, including vast coral reefs, mangrove forests and seagrass beds. We have maintained a permanent presence in Belize since 2010, supporting diverse fisheries and conservation efforts.

We work in close partnership with the Belize Fisheries Department, MPA managers, fishing cooperatives and fishers’ associations, and championed the establishment of a national scale domestic fishery targeting the invasive lionfish.  We are actively promoting community led fisheries management, building on the success of our pioneering work with management of invasive lionfish.

We’ve led a decade-long MPA monitoring and evaluation programme in Bacalar Chico Marine Reserve, and provide regular training in coral reef monitoring methods to MPA authorities across Belize, including helping establish management targets for Turneffe Atoll Marine Reserve, Belize’s largest MPA.

Our team supports and strengthens  fishing associations that advocate for the rights of their communities to be involved in decision making around access and use of coastal fisheries and to be key members of MPA management groups. Across the country we are working to ensure that fishers interests are mainstreamed in the design and implementation of marine conservation and fisheries management, improving the effectiveness of co-management of coral reef, mangrove and seagrass areas.

Mozambique

Our Mozambican team has worked with communities to develop locally led approaches to fisheries management and marine conservation since 2015. This build on the success of the Our Sea Our Life project, when in 2015 and 2016 we ran a series of exchange visits to Madagascar to support temporary closure development in Cabo Delgado. First in Quiwia and then in the Quirimbas Archipelago, these helped encourage the development of local management approaches in Mozambique.

Today our approach is focused on supporting and strengthening local organisations and Community Fisheries Councils (CCPs) to better understand their local fisheries, make informed management decisions to rebuild fisheries, and assess the impact of management actions.  This work is developed in close collaboration with our partners Oikos- Cooperação e Desenvolvimento in Nampula province and Love the Ocean in Inhambane province.

Ongoing security challenges have afflicted coastal communities and emerging marine conservation efforts in several areas of Cabo Delgado, where our work is regrettably now on hold.

As in Madagascar, given extremely high levels of coastal poverty and a pervasive lack of access to basic services, alongside our work in conservation we facilitate partnerships with specialist health providers, through an integrated health-environment approach.

Madagascar

Blue Ventures’ journey began in Madagascar in 2003, and we’ve been supporting communities in marine conservation across the country ever since. We have five regional field programmes along Madagascar’s west coast, as well as regional offices in the towns of Ambanja, Mahajanga, Morondava and Toliara. Our national headquarters is located in the capital Antananarivo.

Across all these sites we support communities with the establishment of locally managed marine areas (LMMAs), and work with government partners to secure national recognition for community conservation initiatives. First developed in Madagascar by Blue Ventures in 2006, the LMMA concept has since been replicated by communities at hundreds of sites over thousands of kilometres of coastline, now covering almost one fifth of Madagascar’s inshore seabed. Our research in Madagascar has demonstrated globally important evidence of the benefits of LMMAs to fisheries and conservation.

Our work focuses on strengthening community institutions in marine management and governance, and pioneering new approaches to catalyse community engagement in ocean conservation. These innovations have included establishing community led ecological monitoring and the country’s first mangrove blue carbon project.

At the national level, we partner with the LMMA network MIHARI, which brings together 25 partner conservation organisations supporting 219 LMMA sites across the country. Our policy team is also actively involved in advocating for more robust legislation to safeguard the rights and interests of fishing communities, and to remove destructive industrial fishing from coastal waters. In 2022 we supported the launch of Fitsinjo, an industrial fisheries watchdog organisation. The network highlights industrial fishing and IUU activities in Madagascar and the broader Western Indian Ocean region.

Given the lack of basic services in remote coastal regions in Madagascar, we also help communities access basic healthcare through training and supporting women to serve as community health workers. We do not replace government health systems, but work to strengthen existing structures in close collaboration with government health actors and specialist NGOs. We also incubate Madagascar’s national health-environment network, which brings together 40 partner organisations to address the health needs of communities living in areas of conservation importance across the country.