FishSource

Southwest Madagascar octopus - diving & gleaning (FIP)

Last Updated:

Progress Rating: C

Evaluation Start Date: 2019-03-15

Type: Comprehensive

Status: Active

FIP Lead: Blue Ventures (BV)

Stock Profile Link
Big blue octopus - SW Madagascar

Comments:

The FIP's last stage 4 is now between 12-24 months old with recent stage 3 progress reported in the last 6 months. The FIP drops to C rating.

1. FIP Development	Oct 18	Fishery assessment or scoping document made public 5 October 2018 — Pre-assessment made available
2. FIP Launch	Mar 19	Confirmation of project participants 8 March 2019 — Participants list 16 February 2019 — Memorandum of Understanding
2. FIP Launch	Dec 18	Workplan made public 10 December 2018 — Workplan available
3. FIP Implementation	Oct 22	FIP activities undertaken 6 October 2022 — CGP stakeholders have been participating in Ministry of Fisheries regional office-led workshops; the workshops have focused on data collection methods including differentiating octopus species and setting a minimum number of days per week for CPUE monitoring. 1 October 2022 — A draft data-sharing agreement between CGP and FIP participants has been made available 5 September 2022 — The CGP has developed a value chain quality improvement project plan; the project will focus on improving the killing methods and handling of octopus and will develop a quality grading system. 7 August 2022 — The stock assessment for the octopus fishery in Southwest Madagascar has been published. 16 May 2022 — The first draft of the stock assessment for the octopus fishery in SW Madagascar has been completed; further revision is underway prior to finalization 11 May 2022 — Ecological monitoring training session and outreach meeting held for the FIP; awareness materials circulated and made available 24 March 2022 — The CGP held a regional meeting to discuss the extension of the temporary octopus reserve with officials from the Ministry. 16 November 2021 — The first meeting of the technical steering committee of CGP was conducted in late 2021; workshop report made available 1 August 2021 — Technical paper produced describing the methodology for crab population study 25 June 2021 — Draft of the ToR/Agenda produced for the upcoming TSC meeting in October '21 1 April 2021 — Ecological monitoring reef reports of Nosy Fasy produced; reports revealed a high coverage of algae and abiotic categories with low hard coral cover and low abundance of octopus species 1 March 2021 — Brief report summarizing the process of the Velondriake Management Plan 12 February 2021 — Ecological Monitoring Report was presented 15 December 2020 — Final report of the FIP workshop held on December 2020 to put in place a regional steering committee to lead the conception of the Octopus Specific Management Plan for the South-West region 1 September 2020 — Draft ToR for Secretary Executive of the CGP platforn published 22 July 2020 — Ongoing study underway: identification of the principal and potential prey & predator of the octopus species within its trophic level 1 March 2020 — The catch composition monitoring program is in place and data continues to be collected on secondary species. 27 February 2020 — A Committee for Surveilance & Evaluation training workshop was conducted 17 December 2019 — Strategic document drafted for the management of migrant fishers in the South-West Region of Madagascar 1 December 2019 — Study conducted to give an overview of the impact of the octopus fishery on ETP hard coral and VMEs within the UoC. 13 November 2019 — A workshop with a goal to share and discuss the results of the study within the association management committee has been conducted in order to create a management strategy for migrant fishers. 30 July 2019 — Data collectors workshop held on the collection of secondary species data 20 March 2019 — The CGP (COMITE DE GESTION DU POULPE) is officially launched
4. Improvements in Fishing Practices and Fishery Management	Sep 21	Verifiable improvement in policy/management and fishing practices 1 September 2021 — Five year Management Plan for Velondriake LMMA made available 30 August 2021 — Velondriake Management Committee has decided to partially close the Nosy Fasy site and has restricted the fishing effort within the zonation based on recent report findings 1 April 2021 — PI score 2.3.3. increase; The octopus monitoring programme has updated its data frame logbook to include information on ETP species since 2019 1 April 2021 — PI score 3.2.3 increase; The MCS system has been improved and applied to all of the LMMAs within the UoA. 1 September 2020 — The catch composition program is now enshrined in the yearly work plan of the Velondriake Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA), and a trimestriel analysis of the bycatch is put in place by our Monitoring Evaluation & Learning (MEL) team.The first analysis of the octopus bycatch is done, and shows that the fishery does not have any significant impacts that need to be addressed, even for the sea cucumber.
5. Improvements on the Water	Sep 21	Verifiable improvement on the water 1 September 2021 — Increase to PI 2.5.1; the impact to the trophic functioning of benthic ecosystems including the status of eels, reef flat crabs and coral is low. 1 April 2021 — PI score increase 2.3.1; An ecological monitoring programme has been put in place giving the FIP access to assess the effect of the octopus fishery on hard corals. 1 April 2021 — PI score 2.2.1 increase; main secondary species are highly likely to be above biologically based limits.
6. MSC certification (optional)	—	MSC certificate made public