NOMADS OF THE SEA 

TOLIARA, MADAGASCAR 2017 © MASSIMO RUMI

Vezo, which means “to live by the sea” is the name of an ethnic group, comprising some 70000 people, that live along the coast in the SE of Madagascar.Their population is both defined and sustained entirely by fishing. Migration for work in the mining sector and to escape severe droughts, have caused the population of the South Eastern Madagascan town of Toliara to double in the last 4 years alone. Population pressures have led to overfishing, which is forcing Vezu fishermen to take their wooden pirogues further out to sea and to dive deeper to the seabed to find fish. Sharks and sea cucumbers are the most lucrative catch possible because of the amounts Chinese collectors will pay for them.

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