| On the east coast of Madagascar, the island of Sainte Marie is a tropical paradise whose fishing villages pursue a centuries-old way of life. Fishing methods are traditional, using simple equipment and canoes made from hollowed-out tree trunks. Madagascar’s marine resources are among the richest and most diverse in the western Indian Ocean. Fishing, 80 percent of which is for local consumption, is an essential source of food and employment for Malagasies. However, the destructive methods used by industrial fishing are devastating marine habitats—coral reefs, mangroves, marshes, and seaweed—and leading to an alarming drop in fish stocks. It has been estimated that 10 percent of Madagascar’s coral reefs have already been wiped out. Unless methods change, 60 percent will have disappeared by 2025.
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.&title2=Fishermen in a lagoon of Sainte Marie Island, north of Toamasina, Madagascar (16°50’S, 49°55’E).&title3=Pescadores en una laguna de la isla de Sainte-Marie, al norte de Toamasina, Madagascar (16°50’S - 49°55’E). "download in wallpaper")
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