Sakalava fishermen and Madagascar Fish Eagles: enhancing traditional conservation rules to control resource abuse that threatens a key breeding area for an endangered eagle

Survival of the Madagascar Fish Eagle is threatened by human persecution and habitat loss. Of a global Madagascar Fish Eagle population estimated at 100 breeding pairs, the single most important concentration often pairs breeds on three adjacent lakes near the southern end of the species' range along the western seaboard of Madagascar. Fishing on the lakes is the main livelihood of local Sakalava tribes people who have harmoniously shared these important wetlands with fish eagles for centuries. In the last five years Peregrine Fund researchers have documented a massive influx of up to 275 seasonal migrant. fishermen who abuse local traditional resource extraction rules. The economic incentive to endure the hardship of migration to the lakes and camping on the lakeshore for the season is strong. In 1995 per-capita income from fishing was about $1 500 for the six month season, 7.5 times the national annual average. Fish stocks were rapidly diminished through the fishing season as catches diminished to the point where fishermen gave up fishing before the end of the season. The resilience of introduced Tilapia sp. has so far ensured that stocks rebounded between fishing seasons. Fish stocks were at their lowest when Madagascar Fish Eagle nestlings fledged. The most serious impact of fishermen may be on the lake-side forest, which was used as a source of dugout canoes and wood to fuel fish-drying fires. Up to 275 trees were cut for canoes in 1995 and up to 90 wood fires burned for a total of about 111 500 hours to dry a catch of almost 6.9 million fish. To conserve this important breeding site we aim to prevent loss of fish eagle nesting habitat, increased nest site disturbance, and reduced prey availability by working with community members and local leaders to enforce traditional resource use rules and find alternatives to unsustainable forms of resource extraction.