Catalysing locally-led conservation in Madagascar: from temporary fishery closures to long-term management

Declaring areas of ocean permanently off-limits to fishing often puts conservation at loggerheads with the needs of coastal communities, causing conflict between conservation, fishing and food security interests.For the 1.4... [ view full abstract ]

Declaring areas of ocean permanently off-limits to fishing often puts conservation at loggerheads with the needs of coastal communities, causing conflict between conservation, fishing and food security interests.

For the 1.4 billion people who live around our tropical coasts, foregoing fishing in protected areas can represent too severe an economic sacrifice, and the promised 'spillover' benefits of marine protection can be slow to accrue. Permanently closing areas to fishing is often deemed unacceptable for communities that depend on fishing for survival.

Small (<200 ha), short-term (2-3 month) fishery closures for fast-growing species can represent an intermediate step for communities interested in piloting fisheries management but wary of the economic risk of permanent closures.

We present experiences from 12 years of supporting community-led temporary octopus fishery closures in Madagascar, where over 300 closures have been organised by communities since 2004.  

Across a growing number of sites, closures have delivered compelling short-term fisheries benefits. These have been instrumental in building local support for broader management interventions within locally-managed marine protected areas (LMMAs), including gear restrictions, destructive and industrial fishing bans, and permanent reserves, some of which have demonstrated positive conservation outcomes.   

In Madagascar, temporary closures have provided an entry point for broader conservation efforts across the majority of the country's 70 LMMAs, which cover over 17% of Madagascar's coast.

Although not a biodiversity conservation measure in and of itself, temporary closures deliver conservation benefits that would not have been achievable without the prior demonstration of economic benefits achieved through this management model.