Fishers on the Frontlines

Blue Ventures is a marine conservation organisation whose mission is to support coastal communities to rebuild their fisheries.

In this talk, Charlie Gough will first look at the theory behind community-based conservation and fisheries management. Charlie will then draw on evidence from the frontlines of community conservation to look at how fishers, and in particular women, are integrating traditional knowledge with science and technology to successfully monitor, govern and manage their marine ecosystems.

Finally, she will suggest how future community-based approaches might be further strengthened and supported in order to make significant contributions to global conservation targets.

Speaker

Charlie Gough is the Global Technical Advisor for Fisheries Management and Conservation at Blue Ventures where she has worked for almost 15 years. She is currently based in Plymouth in the UK.

Before returning to the UK, Charlie spent almost a decade living and working in Madagascar. Speaking fluent Malagasy, Charlie established a participatory fisheries monitoring programme in Madagascar, and as a certified PADI Assistant Instructor led a number of dive survey expeditions along the west coast of Madagascar, Ghana and Mozambique.

Charlie is also a PhD candidate at the University of Exeter where she is assessing the composition and contribution of small-scale fisheries of Madagascar. She is also an Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and a University of Edinburgh Ocean Leader.

How to attend

This seminar is taking place online via Zoom.

If you have any queries about this seminar please email Dr Anna Sturrock (anna.sturrock@essex.ac.uk).