Home Institution
University of Colorado At Boulder
Publication Date
Spring 2011
Abstract
The increased demand for marine products has fueled a worldwide overexpansion of the fishing industry. Furthermore, the shift of lower-income countries, like Madagascar, from subsistence to market-based cash economies has led to increased fishing pressures on marine resources. Recent commercialization of fisheries in Southwest Madagascar has caused an over-exploitation of octopus in the Toliara region. In an effort to create sustainable octopus fisheries, Blue Ventures, a UK-based NGO, created the world’s first community run Marine Protected Area (MPA) for octopus near Andavadoaka called Velondriake.
Here, the results of an Octopus cyanea habitat study performed near Beheloke, a fishing village on unprotected waters, are compared with the results of a similar study done by Blue Ventures in the Velondriake conservation zone. By comparing the results of the two studies and their relationships between abundance and the benthic health of O. cyanea’s habitat, the effectiveness of an MPA’s ability to enrich the density of octopus populations around the island can be further understood
Disciplines
Aquaculture and Fisheries | Natural Resources Management and Policy
Recommended Citation
Belazis, Michael, "A Habitat and Abundance Study of Octopus cyanea in Southwest Madagascar" (2011). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 998.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/998
Program Name
Madagascar: Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management