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The first fishing cards distributed in Kirindy Mite

Posted on 16 May 2022

This year 2022, 376 fishing cards were distributed for the first time to fishers working around Kirindy Mite National Park.

This park is part of one of the five Reserves of Biosphere of the Unesco in Madagascar; it is in the South of the Menabe region.
The assistance of the Regional Direction of Fishery and Blue Economy Menabe was necessary to the concretization of this endowment of cards fishers financed by the KFW and whose Madagascar National Parks and WWF are promoters.
As a reminder, two years ago in January 2020, the fishers decided to abandon for the first time the destructive fishing practices as the seine of beach, after the sensitizations of the local community association "Fikambanasoa" in the village of Ambalahonko.
Since then, the community management led by "Fikambanasoa", seven villages have followed the sensitization, and provided each of the fishers in their communities with a legal and up-to-date fishing permit. Thanks to this fishing card in 2022, they are in total legality to access the fishing zones around the Kirindy Mite-Belo sur Mer Biosphere Reserve. In all, Ankevo sur Mer, Hileo, Ambakahonko, Ankoba, Antseranandaka, Manahy, Marohata, Andranopasy are the villages to have benefited from this endowment of card fishers.
The president of the association of fishers of Ankoba sur Mer, Tiry Mahatana, who is part of the beneficiaries of this card fisher is grateful. According to him, "the members of this association have been waiting for this card for a long time. We heard about it through other fishers in neighboring villages, and it enhances the value of the profession". He says he is serene because "complies with the law and no longer has the impression of fishing illegally. The projects implemented with our various technical partners, including WWF allows the counting of real fishers in our region, so that foreign immigrants are immediately identified, they will also have to follow the rules in force on our oceans, we will give the word to those responsible."

In the collection of fishing data, the census of fishers is also important to make a good monitoring of the state of the oceans and its resources. Ben Aziz Hassan, fisheries data collector in Marohata insists on the fact of "setting rigorous criteria and selecting the beneficiaries so that the sustainable management activities that fishers do within community associations and their commitment are well recognized and valued.

The fishers around Kirindy Mité Park hope that this distribution will be the first of many, for the sake of the future generation, the development of their village and the sustainability of fishery resources.