The Community Takes Action

With technical and financial support from the GEF Small Grants Programme, the Rodrigues Regional Assembly and the local NGO Shoals Rodrigues Association, decided to take action to address the problem. Their solution? A voluntary closure of the octopus fishery in the waters of Rodrigues for 2 months a year. This innovative idea also received support from the FAO Smartfish Programme, implemented through the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC).

“I have been fishing octopus for the last 30 years. I have seen the decline in octopus. Through this project, during the closed season I carry out alternative environmental work around the island of Rodrigues, including searching for and reporting illegal poaching activities. When the fisheries re-open, my catch is better due to the health of the octopus population, and so is my income.” - Fisherwoman at Port Sud Est

Despite a few initial challenges, the closure was a great success, with immediate and visible results for the local fishers, who demonstrated ownership of the project by carrying out primary monitoring tasks and actively reporting on cases of illegal fishing to NGO representatives.

Following the re-opening of the first octopus fishery closure in 2012, an octopus catch of 294 tons of octopus was landed during the first 48 days of the season. This was equivalent to the annual average of 288 per year, and the increase has persisted for the last 6 years, approaching 700 tons in 2017. The Rodrigues’ population of Octopus cynea was on the rise, securing the livelihoods of local fishers and their communities.

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