The 1st Regional Conference ‘Sustainable Fisheries in the South-Western Indian Ocean: the importance of the Education, Management and Governance’ took place in Mahajanga (Madascar) on the 10th and 11th of September and it helped to be a meeting point for academics, researchers, managers and civil society in general.

During two days the discussions were focused on the importance of the fisheries resources as a source of food and wealth for the region; the different problems that challenges its sustainability like overfishing, destructive fishing practices and habitat destruction; and the need for a good management system that ensures sustainability.

In order to accomplish this it is necessary to control the fishing activity, eliminate destructive fishing practices, progress on the co-management and creation of protected areas and ensure an equal distribution of the wealth generated.

During the course of the conference it was emphasized the role of higher education as they can train technicians on new management systems based on a multidisciplinary perspective.

The FisherMan project, lead by the University of Alicante, seek to have a multiplier effect by focusing on the ‘train of trainers’ model; the partner universities are involving technicians in all the training activities, who will afterwards join the labour market sector such: public administrations, research centers, non-governmental organisations and the private sector.

The Fisherman project invited all the speakers to send their full contributions to the University of Alicante, and the best papers will be published in MEDITERRANEA, a Scientific journal edited by the Publications Service of the University of Alicante on the initiative of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Environmental Studies ‘Ramon Margalef’.

A copy of all the presentations can be downloaded though the present link.