Marine management

ReefDoctor’s marine management programme focuses on assessing the past and current use of marine resources by the local community, exploring possible enhancements to current techniques and exploring alternative potential income from the reef. This has focussed on two main areas:

A fisheries survey monitoring fishing effort, popular fishing areas, and commonly caught species to establish the relationship between fishing effort and yield. 
After recognising the limited resources available to the local population, an artificial habitat programme was designed to enhance fish biodiversity and biomass in selected fishing grounds.

An alternative income programme has explored the potential of tourism income through the creation of Marine Protected Areas where tourists dive or snorkel the reef for a nominal fee, and a programme of education for pirogue owners that wish to act as reef guides has been created.

Fisheries survey

Since 2006 ReefDoctor has been completing surveys of the variety and quantity of fish species Ifaty fishermen catch. The results of these surveys help us to understand Ifaty’s fishery, which is essential for successful management and protection of fish stocks for future generations.

The surveys take place on the beach where local staff meet fishermen and identify and measure their catches, or survey the stocks at the collection stations in Ifaty, which buy the catches from the fishermen to sell on in bulk to regional collectors. Volunteers have the opportunity to shadow and assist our local staff during this process and gain first hand experience in a traditional Malagasy fishing environment.

The results of the fisheries surveys are recorded in ReefDoctor’s database after each survey, and are then analysed to assist the Ifaty community in the management of their marine resources and coral reef (e.g. through the development of no-take zones or marine protected areas that incorporate regions of high ecological diversity), and to further regional and national studies of coral reef health and biodiversity and resource utilisation by local populations.

Turtle Studies

The ‘Miamby Fano’ (guardian of the turtle) project was set up in 2007 to monitor the local subsistence turtle fishery.  A serious of decline of marine turtles has been documented across Madagascar, in the Southwest the green turtle is commonly hunted by the coastal Vezo people as it’s a valued source of protein all year round. Live specimens are transported up and down the coast to buyers who pay large amounts of money for them thereby making turtle conservation in Southwest Madagascar extremely difficult.

Miamby Fano aims to improve the scientific understanding and economic implications of the turtle fishery, collect data on their distribution, abundance and threats facing them and to establish community participation programmes and education development strategies. Volunteers who are interested will have the opportunity to join our local staff members when they undertake research into the turtles that have been captured in the village of Ifaty. Various data is collected at the time of capture such as carapace measurements, sex, species, area of capture, purchase price and occurrence of eggs. This data is essential for the evaluation of the impact this fishery may be having on the local turtle populations and the wider Western Indian Ocean, with the aim to lead to effective future management and conservation.

Artificial habitat programme

Artificial habitats represent a way of concentrating fish populations in specific areas. Their introduction enables fishermen to visit these places for improved yield and to relieve fishing pressure on other healthy parts of the reef. At present ReefDoctor is conducting a number of experiments looking at different types of artificial reef structures and how they may help both the local community and the marine environment.

Fish Aggregation Devices

FADs are a way of improving inshore artisanal fisheries for fishing communities. They are artificial structures placed in the water to act as a means of concentrating fish from a large area, into a smaller area, thereby making them easier to catch.

As long as the quantity of fish harvested does not exceed the sustainable capacity, and the methods of harvesting do not unduly scare fish away, FADs can be used as a sustainable method for effectively increasing fishing yields and thus sustain a good nutritional and economic income.

Developed in conjunction with the local fishing community, ReefDoctor’s FAD designs use locally available materials requiring a minimal budget, making it affordable and replicable by individual fishermen or small associations of fishermen.

FADs are deployed in relatively shallow waters near to the barrier reef, making them easily accessible by pirogues (the local fishing boats) in all weather conditions. In this way, ReefDoctor hopes to provide habitats that are a viable alternative to traditional fishing grounds.

Experimental FADs were first deployed in the area in 2004, with further designs tested in 2005. During 2006, ReefDoctor installed functional FADs and monitored their success at attracting fish and improving yields. There are further plans to continue installing FAD’s in the near future to run alongside other marine management techniques such as protected areas and artificial habitats.

Alternative incomes

At present the population of the village of Ifaty rely heavily on fishing and associated trades for their livelihoods. This has resulted in a great deal of pressure on the lagoon and reef of the Bay of Ranobe. In addition, fishing and working on the sea is more than just a job for the local Vezo fishermen, making their living from the sea is a matter of pride and makes them who they are.

At present much of the income for local communities comes from fishing, with alternative marine-based activities playing only a small role in income generation. While there is the potential for tourism income, much of the current income is restricted to local hotels and dive centres that are generally run by overseas nationals or people not from the local area. Although this may provide some jobs in the area, these are often not ‘vezo’ jobs and they do not involve the sea.

In exploring alternative livelihoods ReefDoctor is trying to help local people understand the pressures the reef is under and the limitations some fishing techniques might be placing on its income generation potential, while also exploring the income opportunities represented by tourism and other new marine industries.

At present this programme of work has centered on two new areas of possible income generation from the marine environment: the creation of marine protected areas that can be used to help generate income for the village and language and basic science training to improve local pirogue owners’ ability to act as marine guides for tourists.

Marine protected areas
The first MPA to be set up in the Bay of Ranobe was the ‘Massif des Roses’ (Rose Garden). It became legally protected in 2007 and is one of the first community-managed MPA’s in Madagascar. This was achieved when ReefDoctor brought together the local fishing communities and hoteliers of the bay to form a marine conservation and management organisation known as FIMIHARA.

After the first year of operation ticket sales for the Rose Garden generated FIMIHARA a net profit of $2000 which was distributed among the villages in the bay for use in small development projects. In December 2008, following the success of the Rose Garden, FIMIHARA working alongside ReefDoctor, successfully implemented a further three MPAS; Andabotira, Ankarandjelita and Ankarabory and six rotational octopus fishery reserves.

Tourist guide programme
The Guide programme was taken from a pilot created in 2005 by Blue Ventures (http://www.blueventures.org). It provides the villagers with the opportunity to take advantage of the potential income available to them by acting as marine guides to tourists in the MPA’s.

At present, ReefDoctor already completes work in this area through its education programme.  Future plans are to create a more targeted programme that encourages local pirogue owners to act as guides for tourists on the reef, explaining the marine life of the lagoon, visiting protected sites and involving them in responsible tourism practices. This work will sit alongside our tourism education programme, designed to educate visitors to the area on responsible tourism, snorkelling and diving. 

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