12 October 2018 — 'Blue economy' deal sparks concern in Madagascar

“Ny rano masina no valamparihiko”
(the sea is my fence, it protects me)
~ Malagasy proverb

'Blue economy' deal sparks concern in Madagascar
Earlier this month, Madagascar’s president signed a 10-year agreement with a Chinese business consortium to develop Madagascar’s ‘blue economy’. There is widespread concern in Madagascar’s fisheries sector due to the scale of the proposed investment, which reportedly will allow 330 new vessels into Madagascar’s already overexploited waters, with potentially serious ramifications for small-scale fishers. Civil society groups have voiced their concerns about the deal, including the lack of transparency surrounding it, in an open letter published in the national press. An online petition has gathered 15,000 signatures in just two weeks. MIHARI - Madagascar’s network for locally managed marine areas - is playing a vital role in ensuring fishing communities, traditionally excluded from policy making, are informed of developments and have a voice. But in the heated political environment in the run up to national elections, will their call be heard?

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Indonesian fishers take marine management into their own hands
Darawa - a fishing community in the Wakatobi Archipelago, Indonesia - has taken the first steps towards securing management rights over their marine resources, closing a portion of their octopus fishery for three months to give the octopus time to grow. With the help of a local community organisation called Forkani, these fishers took management into their own hands, agreeing on the rules and regulations of the closed area, and conducting catch monitoring in order to adaptively manage their resources.
On September 2nd, the 50 hectare fishing area was reopened, and the community celebrated their success. This closure builds the groundwork for more ambitious and longer term community led fisheries management, with the Darawa community already planning another two octopus fishery closures, and the co-management of their customary marine area.

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Gif of the week

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#OceanOptimism

• The Marine Conservation Society have published a new edition of their Good Fish Guide to help us make more sustainable decisions when in the supermarket or out to eat. 
• Communities in Tanga, Tanzania spent three days and nights untangling a humpback whale from a gill net - with great success! 
• A new agreement has been signed in Greenland that prohibits commercial fishing across large areas of the Arctic.
• Jellyfish have been identified as a key part of marine food chains.

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Water in your ears - podcasts for ocean lovers

• My Ocean Conversation - Wide range of ocean pioneers who are each champions for protecting the marine environment in their own different ways.
• Speak Up for Blue - Daily dose of random ocean news.
• Costing the Earth - A podcast on environmental issues from the BBC with a huge archive to explore.
• Radiolab - Investigating weird and wonderful stories on a wide range of topics. Ocean lovers might be interested in episodes on mantis shrimp and horseshoe crabs.
• Ologies - The motto for this podcast is “ask smart people dumb questions” and episodes in the archive include oceanology, conservation technology & Selachimorphology (sharks).

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What to Watch: Drowning in Plastic
The BBC recently aired an engaging, feature-length documentary on ocean plastics on prime-time TV to great reviews. Another bleak picture for the oceans, but plenty of optimistic solutions and yet another demonstration of this issue coming to the fore in mainstream media. Readers in the UK can view the whole program on BBC iplayer.

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From the editor
Some Euro-centric items this week: Forty European NGOs have called on the European Commission to stop subsidising construction of new fishing vessels in nine European outermost regions belonging to France, Portugal and Spain; the Parliament’s Environment Committee (ENVI) gave its views on the Commission’s proposal on a Single-use Plastics Directive, with the majority of European Parlimentarians seeking more ambitious measures than those currently proposed; the Voice For the Ocean campaign is encouraging citizens to speak up for the ocean: complete the online survey here. Elsewhere, I completely missed the Holy See's powerful speech against the rush to mine the deep seabed.

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