27/10/2018

MWAMBAO attended the 3rd World Small-Scale Fisheries Congress in Thailand with support from Blue Ventures. Marc Fruitema (BV) organised and invited us to be part of a Science Cafe together with Mursiati Mursiati (Forkani, Wakatobi) to discuss the use of temporary reef closures for octopus as a catalyst for broader conservation in Tanzania, Madagascar and Sulawesi, Indonesia.

There have been over 300 temporary octopus closures in Madagascar and Tanzania since 2004 and in 2017 the same approach was piloted in Indonesia. While such closures provide short-term economic benefits for fishers, establishing the closure system can be lengthy and complicated however, a major (often unrecognized) benefit is the strengthening of the local governance system for fisheries management. This can lead to increased recognition of tenure, improved community resilience, and buy-in to broader, more ambitious management planning.