30 Nov Community exchange inspires local action
This short documentary by Blue Ventures tells the story of two communities travelling across the ocean to learn, and observe first-hand, from different sustainable fisheries management practices. The film documents a community exchange between fishers from Mexico and Madagascar.
The purpose of the community exchange was to allow these two coastal communities to share their experiences in fishing management and marine conservation. The first exchange occurred in 2015, when members of a fishing community on the shore of Baja California, Mexico visited a remote fishing village in Madagascar. The Mexican fishers learned how the Malagasy fishers used short-term fishery closures as a management tool to boost catch and income. As a result of this visit, the Mexican fishers established short-term closures as part of their own fisheries management practices. Shortly after 3 Malagasy fishers from the Madagascar fishing village visited their counterparts in Mexico. After observing the fishing practices in Bahia de Los Angeles (the town in Baja California, Mexico where the exchange took place), the Malagasy fishers commented on how the Mexican fishermen have interesting ways to add value to their businesses by catching octopuses alive and preparing them before being sold to the local or export market.
The film demonstrates the many benefits associated with exchanging ideas between communities as a way of supporting innovative community-based fisheries management and conservation. Watch the whole film below:
Blue Ventures Film: Crossing the Ocean – A Community Exchange
This post was created with permission from Blue Ventures and excerpts & images for this post were taken from Blue Ventures news and blog posts.
Blue Ventures’ partners in Mexico Pronatura Noroeste and Smartfish Mexico, as well as The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust provided support for this initiative.