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An island country located in the southwest of the Indian Ocean, Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world with an area of 587,000 km², is located to the east of the African continent from which it is separated by the Mozambique Channel. The latest statistical estimates put its population at around 27 million inhabitants. With more than 5,600 km of coastline, 117,000 km² of continental shelf, more than 113,000 km² of territorial waters and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) extending over 1,140,000 km², Madagascar has immense resources fisheries. Furthermore, the surface area of lakes, lagoons and other bodies of water favorable to inland fishing, and therefore of obvious fishing interest, is estimated at around 1,500 km². Tunas- tunas and associated species which cross the Malagasy EEZ during their migration.
The main species targeted in the western Indian Ocean are skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye tuna and swordfish. Their potential in Malagasy waters is estimated at 51,600 t by the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (CTOI) which supervises their exploitation. This is an indicative and unpredictable estimate due to the highly migratory nature of these species.
The potential for sensitive species (sharks and rays) is unknown for the ministry in 2021. Shark and ray species are mainly caught by industrial tuna fishing (longline and purse seine fishing), industrial shrimp fishing, artisanal fishing and small fishing
