An assessment of local fisheries in Diego-Suarez Bay, Madagascar

ut the majority of fishermen do not have a specific day, fishing on any day of the week (44%). The
number of hours spent fishing ranged from one to twelve hours per day, with a mean of five hours.
The months around the turn of the year (November, December, January and February) were the most
favourable months in which to fish with December being the most popular (11%).
The most common types of fishing gear used were the fishing net and a hook and line (figure 5). There
was a significant difference in the types of gear used by fishermen in Ramena and those interviewed from
Antsisikala. Chi-square contingency tests using the total frequency counts for each fishermen using each
gear from Ramena or from Antsisikala showed there is an association between gear use and where the
fishermen came from. (χ 2 = 14.97, df = 5, p < 0.010). Seine netting was used by 56% of the fishermen in
Ramena, compared to none of fishermen from Antsisikala. According to 92% of fishermen, fishing
techniques had not changed in the years that they had been fishing.
Percentage of fishermen
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
yes when fish
too small
yes when fish
is non-target
yes when its
not a valuable
species
not good to
eat
Reason for throwing fish back
Figure 6. Reason for throwing fish back (n=36)
do not throw
anything back
Seventy-two percent of the fishermen would throw fish back while 28% would not. Of the 72% that said
yes, 67% of fishermen throw fish back if they are too small, 31% if they are non-target species, 14% if
they not valuable and 0% throw fish back if they are not good to eat.
The majority of fishermen reported a mean daily catch weight between 1-25kg (77%). Within this size
class the weights varied from 2kg to 25kg. Weight classes 25-49kg and 50-75kg had a lower frequency
(both 10%). However, there was a significantly higher frequency of catches from the weight classes 25-
49kg and 50-75kg by fishermen from Ramena, than from Antsisikala (χ 2 = 8.53, df = 3, p < 0.036).
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