BAY OF RANOBE, Madagascar — The coral reef itself was exquisite. Growing about 3 miles offshore in 50 feet of water, it was a rugged terrain of pinks, blues, and oranges, set against a backdrop of deep blue. The coral pieces, each a colony of living animals, took on a range of unusual forms, from cake platters and pencil shavings to antlers and brains.

But there was one obvious thing missing: fish. Like a city without people, the reef was mostly empty — not only of fish, but also of crabs, eels, and other typical marine life on a coral reef.

It was a sunny morning in September, and I was diving on a coral reef in southwest Madagascar, an island nation that sits east of continental Africa. And like many reefs in the region and across much of the world, it’s on the verge of collapse. Overfishing has emptied the ocean here of fish, which over time will allow algae to take over and outcompete the corals. The increasing intensity of marine heat waves and cyclones, along with inland deforestation, also threatens the country’s reefs, which are among the most biologically diverse in the world.

This is a major problem for people along the coast of southwest Madagascar. Their livelihood depends on fishing — catching marine critters is an essential, and often the only, source of food and income — yet as the reef collapses, so does the fishery. The reef is where fish sleep, eat, and hide from predators, and without it, they struggle to survive. It’s a complicated situation: The health and well-being of people along the coast depends on fishing, yet too much fishing is a key reason why the reef, and the fishery it supports, is in decline.

This tension between human and wildlife survival is not unique to the coasts of southwest Madagascar. The island, home to about 33 million people, is among the poorest of poor nations, with some 80 percent of its population living on less than the equivalent of $2.15 a day. People often have no choice but to depend directly on ecosystems to meet their basic needs.

The government, meanwhile, has failed to provide even the most basic services like reliable electricity and water, let alone a pathway out of poverty and dependency on exploitation. That failure fueled weeks of youth-led protests this fall in Madagascar, where the median age is around 20. In response, Parliament impeached the president on October 14 and the

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