Finding alternatives to survive : the story of Christophe

GSTDTAP > 资源环境科学

	Finding alternatives to survive : the story of Christophe
	admin
	2018-02-15
发布年	2018
语种	英语
国家	国际
领域	资源环境
正文(英文)	Christophe belongs to the « Vezo » : the traditional fishermen tribe in Madagascar. He and his wife Sarah have adopted seaweed farming as an alternative source of income, due to decreasing fish populations and wanting to protect their beloved ocean. Today he shares his story. What is your earliest memory of the ocean? My father died when I was a teenager. My mother couldn’t support us by herself, so we had to drop out of school. My grandfather decided to take us to Anakao, where he taught us everything we needed to know about fishing so we could find a job. I used the money I earned by being a fishermen to support my mother and the rest of my family. A couple of years later, I managed to buy the land I currently live on and I built a house for my wife and children. What changes are you witnessing in the ocean and how do these changes affect you? We used to be able to predict the currents and tides of the ocean by watching the sky and feeling the wind and its direction. Unfortunately, we are not able to do that as accurately as before. The ocean is changing unpredictably, and so are the winds. They’re a lot stronger than before. Sometimes the conditions are so extreme that we cannot bring our pirogues (small, traditional fishing boats) to the sea. The wind would break our sails and could sink our materials. In those situations, we just have to wait for the storm to pass. Last time, we had to wait for an entire week. However, sometimes I decided to take the risk and I went fishing anyway. There I was, in the middle of the ocean, wondering how I could provide for my children if I couldn’t bring back any fish. I decided to come up with an alternative. So, what is the alternative you came up with? What do you do to contribute to shifting this change in a positive way? We started seaweed farming! As Vezo, officially we’re fishermen, so this was definitely a second choice at first. My wife Sarah and I never expected that it would assure almost half of our income nowadays. Thank God we found this. We will definitely continue our seaweed farming. Our bay is perfect for it, as the reefs protect the algae cultures and the water stays warm all day. For me, children are the best heritage: I hope that my production will increase then I can insure a better future for my children, for them to have a diploma. In 2030, what does the ocean look like according to you? Personally I don’t know what to expect. But for sure I see our little bay as still being a nice farmland for algae culture to our village. Our reefs protect it; the water is warm all day. We will continue seaweed farming. If changes in the ocean and winds in your area are getting hard to manage and you are struggling to provide for yourself and your family, find alternatives to survive. When you find it, stick to it and work on improving the quality of your product.
URL	查看原文
来源平台	World Wide Fund for Nature
文献类型	新闻
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/125964
专题	资源环境科学
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	admin. Finding alternatives to survive : the story of Christophe. 2018.