Troubling the Waters: Gendered Dispossession, Violence, and Sea Cucumber Aquaculture in Madagascar

Abstract

Poverty reduction and fisheries management in Madagascar have converged on the marine seascape, directed at an unassuming creature: the sea cucumber. In southwestern Madagascar, the enclosure of what was once a common pool resource has led to violence and new gendered seascapes. This form of blue grabbing, promoted by private companies and NGOs alike as an avenue to achieve conservation and develop coastal economies, has fundamentally restructured property relations and who benefits from marine resources. Sea cucumber pens, established in some areas with the input of a narrow local elite and guarded at times by the police have become high risk environments where fishers report injury and death, pointing to important questions about the metrics and means of sustainable production in the marine realm, and whose interests and access to marine resources are prioritized.

Keywords:

• Blue-grabbing
• enclosure
• fisheries
• Madagascar
• political ecology

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Correction

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank first and foremost our Malagasy collaborators, who would prefer to be left unnamed, who helped create questions and conduct interviews for this article. We want to also thank the individuals open enough to talk to us about this topic who shared their fears, anger and hope. Mahavelo bevata. Thank you to Louise Fortmann, Nancy Peluso and Gill Hart for your wisdom and trailblazing. Lastly, thank you to three anonymous reviewers who helped strengthen this manuscript in numerous ways.

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08941920.2024.2303785)

Notes

1 For more video documentation see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ostMQZTHLD0

2 “Les holothuries (trépang) d’une longueur inférieure à 11 centimètres mesurés sur des individus vivants. Cette longueur est réduite à 8 centimètres pour les holothuries à l’état sec.” (p 303; (Petit 1930, 303)).

3 “Il est interdit de pêcher, faire pêcher, de traiter en vue d’une conservation quelconque, de commercialiser, les holothuries (trépangs) mesurent moins de 11 cm pour les individus à l’état frais et moins de 8 cm pour les individus à l'état secs.” (Loi 75-525): http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/mad1750.pdf

4 Similar rules around sea cucumber pens exist elsewhere. For example, Maharey Andrianahy, a Blue Ventures employee explains in an interview that “There are rules safeguarding the hatcheries. We worked these out with the breeders. For example, it’s forbidden to enter the pens of other farmers without their consent. All fishing is also forbidden, except for crayfish. You’re allowed to catch them because they feed on the sea cucumbers” (Skowronski 2015).

5 According to one Masikoro resident, Masikoro and Tanalagna have strong historical ties to the area and have lived there in the past but have always returned to their inland farms for part of the year. However, due to climate change stressing agricultural viability, some Masikoro and Tanalagna have turned to ocean-based livelihoods for survival (pers. comm 12 April 2021).

6 Based on oral histories conducted with six male and thirteen female sea cucumber fishers in southwestern Madagascar on June 16, 2009; September 7, 2010; March 14 & 18, 2011, and in northwestern Madagascar on July 17, 2009; October 23–30, 2010; and July 6–20, 2011.

7 “Sitra-pon’drozy [head of IOT] nampialan’drozy satria misy nangalatra, de zalahy securite iro nitifitara, de nahataotra izireo hoe ‘matimaty izahay etoy’ sahalamizao hoe. De nataotra, fa le olo baka etoa tsy nagalatra. Nitifitra securite satria tsy nahalala, tsy hain’tegna, fa piasa.”

8 “Misy securite tsy manana basy, fa kobay avao. Fa gendarme manao securite koa, de gendarme tsy maintsy manana basy. Tena maty mitsy. Misy maty tamin’nay etoy. Misy firy, [he counts on his fingers], misy iray, roa, telo olo maty tamin’ny zay.”

9 “Maro ty maty, tena maro, fa telo avao maty bakaminay etoa tamin’ny 2018”

10 “aminay eto raha zay sarotsy ary raha ty fa atonay tahotsy Ndragnhary ie egny igny.”

11 “tsy misy olo ahazoanareo gny marina zao gn’eto fa leo, matahotsy, ndra nareo hanao akory hanao akory”

12 “Matahotsy zahay fa ataonay ho vazaha IOT koa nareo ka laha bototsy koa gny volanay dradradradra bakeo hampigadra”

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation CNH2 #1923707.