Garth Cripps, independent photojournalist and director of the short film Kokoly, has written for Oceanographic magazine.

Cripps describes the daily challenges facing the world’s small-scale fishing communities, and the huge but largely unrecognised role that fisherwomen play.

He then tells the story of his journeys in southwest Madagascar with Paul Antion, Blue Ventures’ outreach manager.

For a couple of weeks Paul and I travelled along the southwest coast – the homeland of Madagascar’s traditional Vezo fishing people – meeting and just talking to Vezo fisherwomen. We came across many strong characters and stories, including one woman who said “now that I have seaweed farming, I don’t need a husband anymore”, but one person stood out: a diminutive octopus fisherwomen from Lamboara. Kokoly.

Read Cripps’ full account of getting to know the muse behind the film in Kokoly: fishing for a future

Watch the full film at kokolyfilm.com