Science For Management And
Conservation
We work with stakeholders to identify the science needed to protect marine wildlife
Working with stakeholders, from fishers and other NGOs to government institutions, we identify the science needed to support management and conservation efforts and build local scientific capacities while undertaking research and long-term monitoring. We are precautionary in our approach, as evidenced by whale shark science conducted in several countries, finfish spawning aggregation research in Belize and Micronesia, shark and ray fisheries-dependent and independent science, deep sea fisheries research in the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, and assessments of protected areas’ effectiveness for large mobile fish.
Our Projects
Public Perception Assessments
In the quest to better raise public awareness about marine wildlife and notably sharks, we have conducted outreach and education initiatives throughout Belize since 1999. From 2001 onwards, these initiatives were expanded to several other countries including Madagascar, Micronesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, and Honduras. However, we needed to know whether our efforts had been effective in changing entrenched mindsets of fear or disgust. We also needed guidance in honing our conservation messages to better effect changes in the use of unustainable fishing gears such as nets and longlines, consumer preferences and stewardship of marine megafauna.
As sharks in particular are feared by many worldwide including Belize, we were keen to understand what lay behind this fear and subsequently identify communication strategies in order to mitigate that fear. Specifically, a national survey was conducted in Belize to assess the public’s knowledge, perceptions, and management preferences for elasmobranchs.
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It followed a standard pre/post format with 25 questions. Pre surveys were conducted in 2011, prior to outreach activities, and post surveys were completed in the winter of 2013/14 following a 2.5 year outreach campaign. The objectives of this survey with Belize’s public were to 1) Identify levels of knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards sharks; 2) Reveal national patterns of consumption of shark meat; 3) Highlight proposed management and conservation options; 4) Assess the effectiveness of the strategies used in the outreach campaign.
Pre-survey results helped us to develop and tailor an outreach strategy that has provided many opportunities to educate and inspire, and helped to expand our outreach for sharks and rays along the MesoAmerican Reef. Results indicated that the Belizean public has a good basic knowledge of sharks and rays. Unfortunately, close to half of respondents of the post survey feared sharks and rays, with more women fearing sharks than men. Despite this fear, more than 80% of respondents supported the protection of sharks and rays in both 2011 and 2014. Belizeans believed that shark and rays were important to tourism, and therefore generate revenue for the country. However, we still need to increase awareness about the harmful health effects of consuming shark meat, particularly among men. Communities where shark consumption was highest included Belize City and southern coastal Belize.
Integrating perception surveys into management provides a highly replicable and strategic means of targeting conservation messaging and assessing often costly and time-consuming outreach efforts.
Socio-economic Assessments
Many tropical countries are data-poor when it comes to fisheries or information on marine megafauna. To fill the data gaps and support precautionary management measures, we have conducted socio-economic assessments of a range of small-scale fisheries including on reef-associated fish, sharks, Goliath grouper and deep-water fishes. Depending on the targeted group and information needed, the surveys are shaped as pre/post, retrospective, online surveys or catch reconstructions.
Results are triangulated with fisheries-independent field surveys and, where possible, market surveys to better quantify the diversity, distribution, size and demography of species landed as well as seasonality of catches and market prices.
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Since consumption of marine resources is not the only driver related to the value of marine wildlife, we also conduct surveys to assess the status of sawfish and dive tourism generated by whale sharks and reef sharks. Results have been used to better tailor management and conservation efforts, including legislation for reef fish spawning aggregations, MPA designation, protection of coastal and reef-associated sharks, species protection for whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) and nurse sharks (Ginglymostoma cirratum), and proposed size limits for the Goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) fishery.
Recreational Fisheries
Many fishes desired by sport or recreational fishers are large, highly migratory species. These animals are often apex predators and indicators of ocean health. Because they are highly migratory, sport fish may be targeted by fishers in more than one country, complicating management.
Belize has a long history of recreational offshore fishing, but the status of preferred stocks is currently unknown. Working with fishers and in tournaments,
MarAlliance is helping to characterize the offshore recreational fishery in Belize to better understand the status of our sports fish stocks, especially their age and growth, reproduction, habitat preferences, seasonal preferences, food web dynamics, and diets.
Deep Sea: The Last Frontier
Sharks and fishes that inhabit waters deeper than 150 m (500 feet) are among the least-studied species in the world’s oceans, and deep-sea fisheries often become established in these depths before any research can be conducted on the biology and ecology of the targeted animals. This is especially problematic for deep-sea species because they tend to be slower-growing and reproduce later than their coastal counterparts, and are therefore less able to recover from overfishing.
Shark species are especially vulnerable, as they often have very low productivity: for example, some gulper sharks produce only a single pup per reproductive cycle. We are currently conducting research on the deep-sea fishes, sharks, and the fisheries in the Meso-American Region (MAR) to learn more about which species inhabit this region, how they are distributed, and how their populations might respond to increasing fishing effort.
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Working with local fishers, we are conducting some of the first research on these species in the MAR. We hope to learn which species might be the most vulnerable to over exploitation and identify critical habitats that need protection. Along the way we are also filling in our knowledge on the deep-sea ecosystem, expanding known ranges for species, and even potentially finding new species!
Sustainable Fisheries and the Reduction of Fishing Effort
For coastal developing countries, fishing for a range of species is often important for the livelihood, culture, and health of the human population. However, in many regions, catches are diminishing and the sizes of captured fishes is decreasing. Collecting data from fisheries can allow researchers to identify and address problems to ensure the continued health of fish populations and the communities that rely upon them.
Fishing operations in many tropical countries are generally on a small scale, often conducted from small vessels in areas that are easily accessible from shore.
However, the use of destructive gears, such as nets and longlines, can have a negative influence on fish populations and endanger the success of future fisheries. Sharks are especially vulnerable to being caught by nets and longlines and are often targeted by fishers.
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A better understanding of the fisheries, fishing effort, and landings coupled with trade flows will help to identify whether these fisheries are sustainable and meet international convention requirements. At present, there are no sustainable shark and ray fisheries known in tropical countries.
MarAlliance is working with numerous partners to characterize the scope of elasmobranch fisheries and associated markets and trade flows. Resulting information is being fed back into management strategies at local, national and regional levels such as MPA management plans, species-specific management, National Plans of Action (NPOA), listing species on the Convention for Migratory Species (CMS), and Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) non-detriment findings (NDFs).
Spatial Ecology of Threatened Species
Spatial ecology is the study of an organism’s use of habitats and ecosystems throughout its lifetime. A variety of factors influence spatial ecology, including, but not limited to: food availability, habitat type, season, reproductive activity, and predator avoidance. Not surprisingly, as an animal grows and ages, it will often change its pattern of habitat use. We study the spatial ecology of big fishes to detect these patterns and to identify those habitats that may be critical to the success of their populations.
As human populations continue to grow, habitat destruction and overfishing are changing the spatial ecology of sharks and rays.
Several studies have shown that species abundance and diversity decreases with increasing proximity to human population centers. One of the most vulnerable groups of fishes are the sawfishes, and we have seen drastic reductions in preferred habitat (clean estuaries, mangroves and sandflats) for all five species of sawfishes.
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Once common throughout the Caribbean, the largetooth and smalltooth sawfish species have not been observed in recent years (over 25 years for the largetooth) and are now considered ecologically if not functionally extinct throughout the MesoAmerican reef region (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras). By identifying critical habitats for big fishes, we hope to keep this pattern from continuing.
MarAlliance has revealed patterns of behaviour and movements in a range of large marine wildlife including turtles, manta rays, whale sharks and reef-associated sharks. See our publications page for our papers on this topic.
Biology of Threatened Species
Determining a species’ specific growth rate, size and age at maturity, and the rate at which it reproduces tells us a lot about its vulnerability to fishing exploitation. A slow-growing shark species that only produces 4 offspring every other year may not be able to recover from heavy fishing mortality. This is especially important information for threatened species that have been overexploited. Because growth rates and reproductive output vary so widely among species, and often by region, it is extremely important to study the growth and reproductive biology of threatened marine wildlife on a species-specific and regional basis.
Through fisheries-independent and -dependent means, MarAlliance has been determining the growth rates and age at maturity for species such as the Caribbean reef shark, Goliath grouper and several species of rays that are currently listed as data deficient by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Results of our work have been integrated into peer-reviewed papers, management plans and species assessments.