How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution
-
0:01 - 0:03I'm a marine biologist
-
0:03 - 0:06here to talk to you
about the crisis in our oceans, -
0:06 - 0:10but this time perhaps not
with a message you've heard before, -
0:10 - 0:13because I want to tell you
that if the survival of the oceans -
0:13 - 0:17depended only on people like me,
-
0:17 - 0:20scientists trading in publications,
-
0:20 - 0:23we'd be in even worse trouble than we are.
-
0:23 - 0:25Because, as a scientist,
-
0:25 - 0:27the most important things
that I've learned -
0:27 - 0:31about keeping our oceans
healthy and productive -
0:31 - 0:34have come not from academia,
but from fishermen and women -
0:34 - 0:37living in some of the poorest
countries on earth. -
0:37 - 0:39I've learned that as a conservationist,
-
0:39 - 0:43the most important question is not,
"How do we keep people out?" -
0:44 - 0:49but rather, "How do we make sure
that coastal people throughout the world -
0:49 - 0:50have enough to eat?"
-
0:51 - 0:55Our oceans are every bit as critical
to our own survival -
0:55 - 0:58as our atmosphere,
our forests or our soils. -
0:58 - 1:01Their staggering productivity
ranks fisheries with farming -
1:01 - 1:04as a mainstay of food production
-
1:04 - 1:05for humanity.
-
1:05 - 1:07Yet something's gone badly wrong.
-
1:08 - 1:11We're accelerating
into an extinction emergency, -
1:11 - 1:16one that my field has so far
failed abysmally to tackle. -
1:16 - 1:20At its core is a very human
and humanitarian crisis. -
1:21 - 1:24The most devastating blow
we've so far dealt our oceans -
1:24 - 1:26is through overfishing.
-
1:26 - 1:30Every year, we fish harder,
deeper, further afield. -
1:30 - 1:33Every year, we chase ever fewer fish.
-
1:33 - 1:37Yet the crisis of overfishing
is a great paradox: -
1:37 - 1:41unnecessary, avoidable
and entirely reversible, -
1:41 - 1:46because fisheries are one of the most
productive resources on the planet. -
1:46 - 1:49With the right strategies,
we can reverse overfishing. -
1:50 - 1:53That we've not yet done so is, to my mind,
-
1:53 - 1:56one of humanity's greatest failures.
-
1:56 - 1:59Nowhere is this failure more apparent
-
1:59 - 2:02than in the warm waters
on either side of our equator. -
2:02 - 2:06Our tropics are home to most
of the species in our ocean, -
2:06 - 2:10most of the people whose existence
depends on our seas. -
2:10 - 2:14We call these coastal fishermen and women
"small-scale fishers," -
2:14 - 2:16but "small-scale" is a misnomer
-
2:16 - 2:22for a fleet comprising over 90 percent
of the world's fishermen and women. -
2:22 - 2:26Their fishing is generally
more selective and sustainable -
2:26 - 2:28than the indiscriminate destruction
-
2:28 - 2:31too often wrought
by bigger industrial boats. -
2:31 - 2:35These coastal people have the most
to gain from conservation -
2:35 - 2:36because, for many of them,
-
2:36 - 2:41fishing is all that keeps them
from poverty, hunger or forced migration, -
2:41 - 2:45in countries where the state
is often unable to help. -
2:45 - 2:48We know that the outlook is grim:
-
2:48 - 2:51stocks collapsing
on the front lines of climate change, -
2:51 - 2:55warming seas, dying reefs,
catastrophic storms, -
2:55 - 2:57trawlers, factory fleets,
-
2:57 - 3:02rapacious ships from richer countries
taking more than their share. -
3:02 - 3:05Extreme vulnerability is the new normal.
-
3:06 - 3:10I first landed on the island
of Madagascar two decades ago, -
3:10 - 3:13on a mission to document
its marine natural history. -
3:13 - 3:16I was mesmerized
by the coral reefs I explored, -
3:16 - 3:18and certain I knew how to protect them,
-
3:18 - 3:21because science provided all the answers:
-
3:21 - 3:24close areas of the reef permanently.
-
3:24 - 3:27Coastal fishers
simply needed to fish less. -
3:27 - 3:30I approached elders here
in the village of Andavadoaka -
3:30 - 3:32and recommended that they close off
-
3:32 - 3:36the healthiest and most diverse
coral reefs to all forms of fishing -
3:36 - 3:38to form a refuge to help stocks recover
-
3:38 - 3:43because, as the science tells us,
after five or so years, -
3:43 - 3:47fish populations inside those refuges
would be much bigger, -
3:47 - 3:49replenishing the fished areas outside,
-
3:49 - 3:52making everybody better off.
-
3:52 - 3:55That conversation didn't go so well.
-
3:55 - 3:56(Laughter)
-
3:56 - 3:59Three-quarters of Madagascar's
27 million people -
3:59 - 4:01live on less than two dollars a day.
-
4:02 - 4:04My earnest appeal to fish less
took no account -
4:04 - 4:06of what that might actually mean
-
4:06 - 4:09for people who depend
on fishing for survival. -
4:09 - 4:11It was just another squeeze from outside,
-
4:11 - 4:14a restriction rather than a solution.
-
4:14 - 4:19What does protecting a long list
of Latin species names mean to Resaxx, -
4:19 - 4:21a woman from Andavadoaka
who fishes every day -
4:21 - 4:23to put food on the table
-
4:23 - 4:25and send her grandchildren to school?
-
4:26 - 4:30That initial rejection taught me
that conservation is, at its core, -
4:31 - 4:35a journey in listening deeply,
-
4:35 - 4:38to understand the pressures
and realities that communities face -
4:38 - 4:40through their dependence on nature.
-
4:40 - 4:44This idea became
the founding principle for my work -
4:44 - 4:47and grew into an organization
that brought a new approach -
4:47 - 4:48to ocean conservation
-
4:48 - 4:52by working to rebuild fisheries
with coastal communities. -
4:53 - 4:57Then, as now, the work
started by listening, -
4:57 - 4:59and what we learned astonished us.
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5:00 - 5:01Back in the dry south of Madagascar,
-
5:01 - 5:05we learned that one species
was immensely important for villagers: -
5:05 - 5:07this remarkable octopus.
-
5:07 - 5:11We learned that soaring demand
was depleting an economic lifeline. -
5:11 - 5:15But we also learned that this animal
grows astonishingly fast, -
5:15 - 5:18doubling in weight
every one or two months. -
5:18 - 5:22We reasoned that protecting
just a small area of fishing ground -
5:22 - 5:23for just a few months
-
5:23 - 5:27might lead to dramatic
increases in catches, -
5:27 - 5:30enough to make a difference
to this community's bottom line -
5:30 - 5:33in a time frame that might
just be acceptable. -
5:34 - 5:35The community thought so too,
-
5:35 - 5:40opting to close a small area of reef
to octopus fishing temporarily, -
5:40 - 5:42using a customary social code,
-
5:42 - 5:46invoking blessings from the ancestors
to prevent poaching. -
5:47 - 5:50When that reef reopened
to fishing six months later, -
5:50 - 5:53none of us were prepared
for what happened next. -
5:54 - 5:56Catches soared,
-
5:56 - 5:59with men and women landing
more and bigger octopus -
5:59 - 6:01than anyone had seen for years.
-
6:01 - 6:04Neighboring villages saw the fishing boom
-
6:04 - 6:05and drew up their own closures,
-
6:05 - 6:09spreading the model virally
along hundreds of miles of coastline. -
6:09 - 6:11When we ran the numbers,
-
6:11 - 6:14we saw that these communities,
among the poorest on earth, -
6:14 - 6:19had found a way to double their money
in a matter of months, by fishing less. -
6:20 - 6:21Imagine a savings account
-
6:21 - 6:24from which you withdraw
half your balance every year -
6:24 - 6:25and your savings keep growing.
-
6:25 - 6:29There is no investment
opportunity on earth -
6:29 - 6:32that can reliably deliver
what fisheries can. -
6:32 - 6:36But the real magic went beyond profit,
-
6:36 - 6:40because a far deeper transformation
was happening in these communities. -
6:40 - 6:42Spurred on by rising catches,
-
6:42 - 6:47leaders from Andavadoaka joined force
with two dozen neighboring communities -
6:47 - 6:52to establish a vast conservation area
along dozens of miles of coastline. -
6:53 - 6:56They outlawed fishing with poison
and mosquito nets -
6:56 - 6:58and set aside permanent refuges
-
6:58 - 7:00around threatened
coral reefs and mangroves, -
7:01 - 7:03including, to my astonishment,
-
7:03 - 7:07those same sights that I'd flagged
just two years earlier -
7:07 - 7:11when my evangelism for marine protection
was so roundly rejected. -
7:11 - 7:14They created a community-led
protected area, -
7:14 - 7:18a democratic system
for local marine governance -
7:18 - 7:21that was totally unimaginable
just a few years earlier. -
7:22 - 7:23And they didn't stop there:
-
7:24 - 7:27within five years, they'd secured
legal rights from the state -
7:27 - 7:30to manage over 200 square miles of ocean,
-
7:30 - 7:35eliminating destructive
industrial trawlers from the waters. -
7:35 - 7:38Ten years on, we're seeing
recovery of those critical reefs -
7:38 - 7:40within those refuges.
-
7:40 - 7:43Communities are petitioning
for greater recognition -
7:43 - 7:44of the right to fish
-
7:44 - 7:47and fairer prices
that reward sustainability. -
7:48 - 7:51But all that is just
the beginning of the story, -
7:51 - 7:55because this handful
of fishing villages taking action -
7:55 - 7:58has sparked a marine
conservation revolution -
7:58 - 8:00that has spread over thousands of miles,
-
8:00 - 8:03impacting hundreds of thousands of people.
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8:03 - 8:07Today in Madagascar, hundreds of sites
are managed by communities -
8:07 - 8:10applying this human rights-based
approach to conservation -
8:10 - 8:13to all kinds of fisheries,
from mud crabs to mackerel. -
8:13 - 8:18The model has crossed borders
through East Africa and the Indian Ocean -
8:18 - 8:20and is now island-hopping
into Southeast Asia. -
8:20 - 8:25From Tanzania to Timor-Leste,
from India to Indonesia, -
8:25 - 8:27we're seeing the same story unfold:
-
8:29 - 8:31that when we design it right,
-
8:31 - 8:35marine conservation reaps dividends
that go far beyond protecting nature, -
8:35 - 8:37improving catches
-
8:37 - 8:41and driving waves of social change
along entire coastlines, -
8:41 - 8:44strengthening confidence, cooperation
-
8:44 - 8:48and the resilience of communities
to face the injustice of poverty -
8:48 - 8:50and climate change.
-
8:51 - 8:54I've been privileged to spend my career
-
8:54 - 8:59catalyzing and connecting these movements
throughout the tropics, -
8:59 - 9:01and I've learned that as conservationists,
-
9:01 - 9:03our goal must be to win at scale,
-
9:03 - 9:05not just to lose more slowly.
-
9:06 - 9:09We need to step up
to this global opportunity -
9:09 - 9:11to rebuild fisheries:
-
9:11 - 9:14with field workers to stand
with communities -
9:14 - 9:19and connect them, to support them
to act and learn from one another; -
9:19 - 9:22with governments and lawyers
standing with communities -
9:22 - 9:25to secure their rights
to manage their fisheries; -
9:25 - 9:28prioritizing local food and job security
-
9:28 - 9:32above all competing interests
in the ocean economy; -
9:32 - 9:37ending subsidies for grotesquely
overcapitalized industrial fleets -
9:37 - 9:39and keeping those industrial
and foreign vessels -
9:39 - 9:42out of coastal waters.
-
9:42 - 9:43We need agile data systems
-
9:43 - 9:46that put science
in the hands of communities -
9:46 - 9:51to optimize conservation
to the target species or habitat. -
9:51 - 9:56We need development agencies,
donors and the conservation establishment -
9:56 - 9:59to raise their ambition
to the scale of investment -
9:59 - 10:02urgently required to deliver this vision.
-
10:03 - 10:04And to get there,
-
10:04 - 10:07we all need to reimagine
marine conservation -
10:08 - 10:11as a narrative of abundance
and empowerment, -
10:11 - 10:13not of austerity and alienation;
-
10:13 - 10:18a movement guided by the people who depend
on healthy seas for their survival, -
10:18 - 10:22not by abstract scientific values.
-
10:23 - 10:27Of course, fixing overfishing
is just one step to fixing our oceans. -
10:27 - 10:33The horrors of warming,
acidification and pollution grow each day. -
10:33 - 10:34But it's a big step.
-
10:34 - 10:37It's one we can take today,
-
10:37 - 10:39and it's one that will give
a much-needed boost -
10:39 - 10:41to those exploring scalable solutions
-
10:41 - 10:44to other dimensions
of our ocean emergency. -
10:44 - 10:47Our success propels theirs.
-
10:47 - 10:50If we throw up our hands in despair,
-
10:50 - 10:51it's game over.
-
10:51 - 10:55We solve these challenges
by taking them on one by one. -
10:56 - 11:00Our overwhelming dependence
on our ocean is the solution -
11:00 - 11:04that has been hiding in plain sight,
-
11:04 - 11:07because there's nothing small
about small-scale fishers. -
11:07 - 11:11They're a hundred million strong
and provide nutrition to billions. -
11:11 - 11:15It's this army of everyday
conservationists -
11:15 - 11:16who have the most at stake.
-
11:16 - 11:20Only they have the knowledge
and global reach needed -
11:20 - 11:23to reshape our relationship
with our oceans. -
11:24 - 11:29Helping them achieve this
is the most powerful thing we can do -
11:29 - 11:31to keep our oceans alive.
-
11:31 - 11:32Thank you.
-
11:32 - 11:36(Applause)
- Title:
- How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution
- Speaker:
- Alasdair Harris
- Description:
-
We need a radically new approach to ocean conservation, says marine biologist and TED Fellow Alasdair Harris. In a visionary talk, he lays out a surprising solution to the problem of overfishing that could both revive marine life and rebuild local fisheries -- all by taking less from the ocean. "When we design it right, marine conservation reaps dividends that go far beyond protecting nature," he says.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:49
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution | ||
Oliver Friedman approved English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution | ||
Oliver Friedman edited English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution | ||
Krystian Aparta accepted English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution | ||
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for How a handful of fishing villages sparked a marine conservation revolution |