Panama
Monitoring Panama's Marine Megafauna: Protecting Sharks, Rays, and the Critically Endangered Largetooth Sawfish
Panama is bounded by the Caribbean and the Pacific yet scarce information exists on the status of its sharks and rays. Panama is also host to one of the remnant populations of critically endangered largetooth sawfish. MarAlliance is conducting fisheries-dependent and independent monitoring of fish and working to protect sawfish throughout the country. We conduct research and outreach in several sites along the Caribbean and the Pacific including the indigenous Guna Yala Comarca, where we work with local fishing communities to help them combat invasive lionfish, and assess the status of marine megafauna and small scale fisheries.
Accomplishments:
- Completed baseline monitoring in three sites on the country’s Caribbean coast.
- Conducted surveys with fishers throughout both sides of the country to assess the historical populations and current status of critically endangered sawfish.
- Initiated our educational program in primary schools in Panama City, the Los Santos and Bocas del Toro provinces, and the Guna Yala Comarca- reaching over 3000 students and their teachers so far.
- Organized a fisher exchange between artisanal fishers from Mexico and Belize with fishers in the Guna Yala Comarca and Bocas del Toro to help them manage their fisheries as well as hunt and utilize invasive lionfish.
- Trained over 40 local traditional fishers, university students, and biologists in standardized fisheries-independent monitoring methods.
- Conducted an assessment of artisanal fisheries at 6 sites along the Pacific coast to evaluate landings of large fish and build local capacities to manage and monitor fisheries.
- Began evaluating the spatial ecology of whale sharks and mantas in the Gulf of Chiriqui and Coiba National Park.
Panama
We conduct research and outreach in several sites along the Caribbean and the Pacific including the indigenous Guna Yala Comarca, where we work with local fishing communities
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Research Publications
Explore MarAlliance’s research publications on marine conservation. Dive into scientific insights and discoveries that drive our work to protect ocean biodiversity and ensure a sustainable future for marine wildlife and coastal communities.
