New Study uses innovative method for establishing range
of conservation options along the coast of Madagascar

Madagascar now has a roadmap for proposed one million hectare increase in marine protected areas to improve local management of coastal fisheries

University of California, Berkeley, WCS, and others authored study

NEW YORK (February 24, 2012) – A new study by the University of California, Berkeley, Wildlife Conservation Society, and others uses a new scientific methodology for establishing marine protected areas in Madagascar that offers a “diversified portfolio” of management options – from strict no-take zones to areas that would allow fishing.

The methodology looks at existing information on the country’s climate, along with dependence on fisheries and marine resources, and applies three different planning approaches to establish priorities for management along the entirety of Madagascar’s west coast.

The diversified portfolio approach to marine conservation greatly increases the likelihood of finding and implementing successful management that fits a country’s needs while simplifying the process of picking locations and the most appropriate forms of marine management, the authors say.

Considering the need to develop a management regime for the reefs and mangroves of Madagascar that factors in the impacts of climate change, the methodology recommends a range of conservation areas with strict no-take protection as only one type of management recommendation.

The paper appears in the February 16th issue of the open access journal PLoS One. Authors include: Thomas Allnut, Merrill Baker, and Claire Kremen of the University of California, Berkeley; Tim McClanahan, Caleb McClennen, Andry Rakotomanjaka, and Tantely Tianarisoa of the Wildlife Conservation Society; Erwann Lagabrielle and Serge Andrefouet of the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement; and Reg Watson of the University of British Columbia.

The authors say the process provides a more efficient and comprehensive way to plan on a large scale and found that several marine areas in Madagascar come out as conservation priorities across all methodologies. Specifically, these included reefs in the vicinity of the Barren Islands, the large shallow banks to the northwest and southwest, and the reefs of Juan de Nova.

The study highlights the differences in the country’s regional patterns.  These include heavy human pressure in the south and areas of high climate variability intermixed with lower vulnerability but high biodiversity in the northwest.  Areas of particularly high biodiversity value include the islands, reefs, and bays of the northwest; the fringing reefs of the southwest; and the barrier reefs and islands of the central west coast.

Madagascar is one of the poorest countries on Earth yet has proposed to create over 1 million hectares (3,861 square miles) of protected areas to provide for the long-term conservation of its marine resources.

 “It behooves countries, in the face of impending fisheries and climate crises, to plan and implement intelligent management that will increase the resilience of their natural marine resources,” said co-author Tim McClanahan of the Wildlife Conservation Society, “This paper will provide a roadmap for Madagascar to plan and manage these resources and the methods should prove affordable and useful for the poorest countries where adaptation to climate change will make marine spatial planning a critical part of a successful response.”

Co-author Caleb McClennen, WCS Director for Marine Programs, said: “Creation of protected areas is a key conservation strategy to safeguarding marine resources, but one size doesn’t fit all. This study demonstrates the need for a comprehensive portfolio of management solutions from community based coastal fisheries to fully protected marine parks.”

This study has been supported partly by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Local management of marine resources is emerging as a strong trend within the western Indian Ocean. At the recent symposium, numerous presentations, posters and even one dedicated side-event focused on local marine management. In order to better understand and support these efforts, it has been suggested to collect articles in this area for publication as a special issue focused on Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs).

The special edition might cover topics such as:

* Legal structures favorable to local marine management

* The effectiveness of local marine management

* Case-studies of LMMA creation, expansion, improvement or failures

* Various other anthropologic, sociologic, or economic aspects of LMMAs

* Gender

* Migration

* Rule enforcement

* Rule making

* Kinship

* Food security

* Economic development

* Species conservation

* Sustainable fisheries management

David Obura, Melita Samoilys, Shawn Peabody, and Garth Cripps have volunteered to be guest editors of the special edition, which will be supported by WIOMSA for publication in a yet-to-be-determined, international, peer-reviewed marine conservation journal.

Please send your proposed titles and abstracts to shawn@blueventures.org by March 19th. Deadline for full articles will be May 1^st. Publication of the journal is anticipated for late 2012.

Deadline 28 March 2012

START, the global change SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training, has announced the 2012 Call for Proposals (CFP) for Global Environmental Change (GEC) Research in Africa. This CFP is issued pending approval of funding from donor agencies. The theme for the 2012 CFP is global environmental change, agriculture and food security.

To be eligible for support, the proposed project must directly address issues related to global environmental change (including climate change) and its linkages with agriculture and food security, ecosystem services, and sustainable livelihoods.

Researchers are expected to engage multiple stakeholder groups in the process of carrying out the research. These may include farmer and pastoralist groups, civil society organizations, scientists, policy makers, and others. The proposal must describe the communication and outreach strategy the research team will use to engage these groups.

The investigators are strongly encouraged to include graduate students, junior scientists, and/or research technicians as part of the research team.  In doing so, the proposal must describe how capacity of these individuals to conduct multidisciplinary research will be enhanced by the proposed work.

The proposals must be based on collaboration among multiple investigators. Given the complexity of the issues under this theme, it is essential that both natural science and social science considerations be addressed and that the technical expertise of the research team reflects this.

Investigator teams must be comprised of either:

-  3 or more African scientists at the same institution with complementary skills and expertise, with one serving as the Principal Investigator + at least 2 co-Investigators, or

- 3 or more African scientists from different institutions, with one serving as the Principal Investigator + at least 2 co-Investigators. 

Multi-national collaborations are encouraged, but not required.

The Principal Investigator must be based at an institution in Africa.  The African institution (which is presumably the employer of the PI) will assume responsibility for receiving and distributing funds. Co-Investigator(s) may be based outside of Africa and do not need to be an African national.

More information from: http://start.org/news/2012-cfp-grant-awards-gec-africa.html

Save the date / Call for abstracts

S C I E N T I F I C S Y M P O S I U M Mitigating impacts of fishing on pelagic ecosystems: towards ecosystem-based management of tuna fisheries

15-18 October 2012 Montpellier – France

ISSF Skippers’ workshop (Tuna purse seine bycatch)

19 October 2012 Montpellier – France

Approximately six million tons of tunas and tuna-like species are captured every year for human consumption. These fisheries are highly complex in nature with multiple target species and fishing gears (e.g. purse seine, longline, pole and line). As such there are several issues that scientists, policy makers and stakeholders are faced with: catches of juvenile target species, bycatch, impacts of FADs, overcapacity, interactions between fisheries, etc. A symposium wil be convened to present the most recent findings and provide a platform to exchange ideas and investigate optimal approaches to mitigate impacts and ensure sustainability. We encourage participation from scientists, stakeholders and policy makers from all oceans.

The symposium (15-18 October 2012) will have four main thematic sessions:

-          Ecology of target and non target species (e.g. pelagic elasmobranchs) of tuna fisheries

-          Mitigation techniques

-          Socio-economic challenges

-          Ecological-based management of tuna fisheries in the context of global change

Deadline for abstracts is June 1, 2012

Registration and submission of abstracts will open soon on http://ebfmtuna-2012.sciencesconf.org/

Following the symposium, ISSF will host a workshop (19 October, 2012) where skippers and scientists can interact and discuss bycatch reduction methods in the tuna purse seine floating object fishery.

Both the symposium and skippers’ workshop will be held at the Aquarium Mare Nostrum in Montpellier, located in the South of France.

 Funders

The EU funded MADE project “Mitigating adverse ecological impacts of open ocean fisheries” Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 210496, www.made-project.eu

The Ocean Teacher Coordinator, IOC Project Office for IODE is pleased to announce the Training Course on Operational Oceanography: Synoptic Views of the Sea (2012), which will be held in Ostend, Belgium, between 10 – 14 September 2012. Applications are therefore invited from the countries in the region

The courses’ description, topics covered, learning outcomes and prerequisites are available at www.oceanteacher.org and www.iode.org.

Interested candidates can register for the course by following the instructions described at Ocean Teacher Academy website, under Registration.

Registration implies the submission of the following documents:

- Application form
- CV
- Endorsement letter (in case of asking for sponsorship)

Both full- and co-sponsoring are available for a limited number of participants. Sponsored participants will receive one or a combination of the following cost items: 1) air ticket, 2) living and accommodation support, 3) tuition fee and 4) medical insurance.

The selection of participants who will be sponsored will take into consideration:

- Applicant country’s development status (preference will be given to LIFDCs)
- Endorsement of the candidate’s application by his/her employer and any co-sponsoring
- Expected impact of the training for the applicants institution
- Possibility of any co-sponsorship
- Co-sponsorship is an asset for selection.

Complete applications should be sent by e-mail directly to the Ocean Teacher Academy Training Coordinator (claudia.delgado@iode.org) within the deadline. We underline that the deadline for registration for the aforementioned course is 23 March, 2012.

The research programme BESTTuna has 7 vacancies for PhD students.

BESTTuna is a major research programme funded by the Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund (INREF) of Wageningen University that supports cooperative research between research groups at Wageningen University (The Netherlands), Bogor University (Indonesia), the University of the Philippines, the University of the South Pacific (Fiji) and the WWF-Coral Triangle Initiative.

The objective of BESTTuna is to study the design of effective and equitable state and market-based governance arrangements to achieve sustainable trans-boundary tuna management in the Coral Triangle and Western Pacific. As an interdisciplinary programme emphasis is given to social, political, economic and ecological dimensions.

For more information, please visit http://www.wur.nl/UK/newsagenda/news/vacanciesbesttuna260112.htm

The Nairobi Convention Secretariat is pleased to announce the Seventh Conference of Parties (COP7) for the Nairobi Convention to be held from 10 -14 December 2012, in Maputo, Mozambique. The Conference of Parties meeting will be organized under the theme “Partnering for a Healthy Western Indian Ocean”. The Conference will be organized by UNEP in close collaboration with the Government of Mozambique, Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) and key partners.

One of the objectives of the COP7 is to foster collaboration between international, regional and national organizations as well as to secure partnerships between key regional players and the Contracting Parties of the Nairobi Convention in the implementation of the Nairobi Convention Work Programme 2013-2016.

The seventh Conference of Parties meeting will be preceded by a workshop on “science for policy workshop” and a Policy makers and experts meeting”. The Science for policy workshop is an opportunity for all partners of the Nairobi Convention to highlight emerging issues and to present evidence to policy makers on the areas that require new policies.

For more on the COP7, visit the Nairobi Convention website at: http://www.unep.org/NairobiConvention/

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Le Secrétariat de la Convention de Nairobi est heureux d’annoncer la tenue du 10 au 14 Décembre 2012, à Maputo, au Mozambique de la septième Conférence des Parties (COP7) à la Convention de Nairobi. La réunion de la Conférence des Parties aura pour thème “Partenariat pour un océan Indien occidental propre“. La Conférence sera organisée par le PNUE en étroite collaboration avec le Gouvernement du Mozambique, l’Association scientifique l’Océan indien occidental (WIOMSA) et ses principaux partenaires.

L’un des objectifs de la COP-7 est de favoriser la collaboration entre les organisations internationales, régionales et nationales ainsi que d’établir des partenariats entre les principaux acteurs régionaux et les Parties contractantes de la Convention de Nairobi dans la mise en œuvre du Programme travail de la Convention de Nairobi pour la période 2013-2016.

La réunion de la septième Conférence des Parties sera précédée par un atelier sur “La science au service des politiques” et une réunion des décideurs et des experts. L’atelier sur la science au service des politiques offre aux partenaires de la Convention de Nairobi l’occasion de mettre en évidence les questions émergentes et de présenter des faits concrets aux décideurs dans les domaines qui nécessitent de nouvelles politiques.

Plus à: http://www.unep.org/NairobiConvention/

EMBARGO: 22:00 GMT (17:00 EST) 09/02/2012
 
University of East Anglia research reveals why fishermen keep fishing despite dwindling catches

Half of fishermen would not give up their livelihood in the face of drastically declining catches according to research led by the University of East Anglia (UEA).
            
A new report, published today by PLoS ONE, challenges previously held notions about poverty and adaptation by investigating why fishermen in developing countries stick with their trade.
 
Lead author Dr Tim Daw from UEA’s School of International Development and the Stockholm Resilience Centre said: “We found that half of fishermen questioned would not be tempted to seek out a new livelihood – even if their catch declined by 50 per cent. But the reasons they cling on to their jobs are influenced by much more than simple profitability.”
 
Fisheries are challenged by the combined effects of overfishing, climate change, deteriorating ecosystems and conservation policies. Understanding how fishermen respond to these changes is critical to managing fisheries.

The research project is the largest of its kind and was undertaken as a joint project with the Wildlife Conservation Society, the School of Marine Science and Technology at Newcastle University, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Australia.


Researchers surveyed almost 600 fishers across Kenya, Tanzania, the Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar about how they would respond to hypothetical catch declines.
 
They then investigated how social and economic conditions, such as local culture and socioeconomic development, influenced whether fishermen were willing to give up their trade.
 
“Surprisingly, fishermen in the more vibrant and developed economies were less likely to give up their trade – despite having more economically fruitful opportunities open to them,” said co-author Dr Joshua Cinner from the ARC Centre of Excellence for coral reef Studies in Australia.
 
“This is the reverse of the common belief that poor communities are less likely to adapt than wealthy ones. We suspect that this may be in part due to the perverse impacts of subsidies in more developed countries encouraging people to stay in the fishery which would otherwise not be profitable.”
 
Dr Daw said: “But reduced profitability was certainly not the only deciding factor. Fishers often have an occupational attachment, job satisfaction, family tradition, culture, and a sense of identity, which makes them reluctant to stop fishing – even when it would be an economically rational decision.”
 
The research demonstrates the complexity of decision making and how willingness to adapt is influenced by a range of factors.
 
“We have found that willingness to adapt to change is influenced by characteristics of the individual fishermen, their households, and most importantly, the local conditions where they live and work,” said Dr Daw.
 
“Previous studies have been too small to offer insights into larger scale factors. Undertaking such a large study in multiple countries across a gradient of wealth, has allowed us to compare the importance of these factors at different scales for the first time.

Tim McClanahan from the Wildlife Conservation Society said: “It is important to understand why and when fishers will leave a fishery, as the creation of parks, management restrictions, and ecological disasters require that fishers change or leave their fishing practices.
 
“One of the unexpected findings was that fishermen in a poor country like Madagascar would leave the fishery sooner than those in wealthier countries such as Seychelles. The reason seems to be that they already have diversified livelihoods, while fishermen in wealthier countries may be locked into this occupation.
 
“This is contrary to many arguments about the impacts of management and climate change on poor people, so will surprise many people working in this field and on resource and disaster management policies”

The findings add to a growing raft of literature which identifies multiple interlocking and dynamic factors which affect people’s capacity to deal with environmental change. It is hoped they will help identify points of intervention for conservation policies that aim to reduce fishing effort. They could also help communities become more adaptive to change.
 
It also highlights the importance of understanding resource-based livelihoods, such as fishing and farming, in the context of the wider economy and society.
 
‘To Fish or Not to Fish: Factors at Multiple Scales Affecting Artisanal Fishers’ Readiness to Exit a Declining Fishery’ is published by PLoS ONE on February 9. The research was funded by the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association, via a grant to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The International Foundation for the Law of the Sea, chaired by Professor Doris König of Bucerius Law School, will hold its sixth Summer Academy at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg from 22 July to 18 August, 2012.

The Summer Academy is a centre of excellence for studies of both International Law of the Sea and Maritime Law and includes related topics of economic and natural sciences. It brings together a prestigious faculty from among the judges of the Tribunal, professors and professionals from the maritime field with a dedicated group of some 30 highly-motivated participants from around the world. For further information please refer to the enclosed flyer and the preliminary Schedule.

As a rule, applicants should hold a Masters degree (LL.M or equivalent). A limited number of scholarships and travel grants will be available. Subject to availability of places, exceptions may be considered for Master students or professionals in the maritime field and, in rare cases, for excellent undergraduates focusing on Law of the Sea or Maritime Law.

Applications are invited at

http://www.iflos.org/en/summer-academy/application-2012.aspx; the application period will expire on 30 April, 2010.

Africa lags behind other developing regions in local collaboration — and in building its own scientific capacity, says Linda Nordling.

Collaboration was a time-consuming affair for the pioneers of scientific discovery. It took nineteenth century naturalists months to receive replies to their correspondence.

Today, such missives are sent with the click of a button. Months of waiting have shrunk to seconds, and telephones and video linkups have made real-time interaction a cinch.

It is not surprising, then, that the ‘average collaboration distance’ between scientists working together on projects has skyrocketed in the past thirty years — from 334 kilometres in 1980 to more than 1,500 kilometres in 2009, according to data published by scientists at Leiden University in the Netherlands and Stellenbosch University in South Africa last year. [1]

But the global trends mask a more intriguing regional picture. For developed countries, the increase in this rather unorthodox measure probably reflects the increasingly globalised world in which their scientists operate. But for Africa it’s not quite that simple.

Read the full article from: http://www.scidev.net/en/science-and-innovation-policy/south-south-cooperation/opinions/africa-analysis-collaborating-too-far-from-home-1.html