More than 28 million sharks are fished out of the waters around Madagascar each year merely for their fins and trawlers fishing inside the reef has depleted their fish reserves.

This was the warning from Sophie Benbow, a research development manager for the Blue Ventures Conservation group in Madagascar.

Ms Benbow was speaking at the Aquarium, Museum and Zoo on the eve of a two-day conference for 60 students from around the Island where she will also be the keynote speaker.

The biennial conference is sponsored by the Ernest E. Stempel Foundation and supported by the Ministry of the Environment and Sport, Department of Conservation Services and Bermuda National Trust.

The conference is themed: "The Power of One" and last night Ms Benbow spoke about the problems and successes Blue Ventures has encountered while trying to help in Madagascar.

Madagascar has more than 1,000 kilometres of reef, which is 30 times the length of Bermuda's, but because of deforestation, overfishing and lack of protection, it has been decimated.

Ms Benbow revealed that one of the actions the organisation took was to introduce a no-take zone for a 200-hectare coral reef for seven months.

During that time, the fishermen could not take any octopuses, one of the staple catches, out of that area.

She said: "It showed there were more octopi and they were of a bigger weight." Unfortunately, the fishermen were back the day it opened and managed to catch hundreds.

Still, Blue Ventures and Ms Benbow continue to try to work both with the local population and the Government of Madagascar to create a safer environment for both humans and marine life.

Introducing sea cucumber farms and algae farming removes the interest in octopuses and a family planning clinic helps with the numbers of people trying to sustain themselves on the marine life.

Ms Benbow added: "Blue Ventures was dreamed up by three students in college. Three students can have this idea and set-up a company with three staff in 2003 and now it has 35 staff in 2008."

That, according to Ms Benbow proves the power of a small number of determined people.