Community Centred Conservation (C3) Socioeconomic Drivers of Sea Turtle Interactions with Artisanal Fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean Islands

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Socioeconomic Drivers of SeaTurtle Interactions with ArtisanalFisheries in the Western Indian

Ocean Islands

Chris Poonian1

and Tara Whitty2

1Community Centred Conservation (C3), 17 Northcliffe Drive, London, N20 8JX

2Scripps Institution of Oceanography, San Diego, California, USA

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Preview Background

Methods

Results: Regional perspective

Results: Focus on issues in Madagascar

Wider context

Challenges

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BackgroundBycatch of Sea Turtles in Artisanal Fisheries

Major threat to sea turtles (e.g., Lewison et

al. 2004, Read et al. 2008, Seminoff &

Shanker 2008))

Artisanal fishery impacts: difficult to

quantify/understand

Data particularly sparse from developing

nations of Africa and Asia

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Bycatch Assessment Interviews

Interviews to collect data on:

LEK/TEK

Threats to marine megafauna Socioeconomic context

Duke Universitys Project GloBAL

Moore et al. 2010

Rapid Bycatch Assessments (RBAs)

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Western Indian Ocean Islands

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Turtles in the WIO

Important nesting & feeding grounds for sea turtles

5 species present : C. mydas, E. imbricata, L. olivacea, C. caretta, D.

coriacea

Threats: Past & ongoing exploitation for meat, eggs; loss of nesting

sites; bycatch

Artisanal fisheries vital for coastal communities

Regulations in place to protect sea turtles

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Study sites

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Interview design and sampling 2007-2010

Structured interviews based on Project GloBAL

Translations & Interview training

Individual interviews: Included species ID guides &

maps

Sampling: Goal of 10%

coverage* Site selection:

aimed for geographic

coverage*

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Reported capture of sea turtles

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Bycatch or targeted?

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Gears

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Species

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Fate of captured sea turtles

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N. Madagascar Market values

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N. Madagascar Feelings re: bycatch

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Wider context

Poverty of fishing communities

Decreasing fish yields, increasing human pressure

Lack of regulation enforcement

Potential for future

education campaigns

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Challenges

Biases in responses

Lack of background census & fisheries data

Practical constraints on sampling

What bycatch #s are significant?

What does this mean for extrapolating to make

bycatch estimates?

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MARAHABA MENJI, MISAOTRA, THANKS!

FUNDINGComoros: Project GloBAL (Gordon and Betty MooreFoundation); Mauritius & Madagascar: CommunityCentred Conservation (C3)

PARTNERSComoros: Direction Nationale des ResourcesHalieutiques; Universit des Comores; HUPPEMauritius: University of Mauritius

Madagascar: University of Antsiranana; MadagascarNational Parks; Centre National de RecherchesOcanographiques

FOR MORE INFORMATION

www.c-3.org.uk