Conservation in ACTION
After five years of community efforts to protect endangered sea turtles
and their eggs from poachers and predators on nesting beaches, last fall
we decided to tackle another contributing factor to turtle mortality
rates: fisheries bycatch.
For several months, we interviewed Nicaraguan fishermen, conducted
on-board observations, inventoried fish species, and calculated marine
biomass to estimate fish populations and fishing-related turtle
mortality rates from San Juan del Sur in the north, to Ostional in the
south.
Thanks to Allan Bolaños, Randall Arauz, and Jeffry Madrigal of the Costa Rican non-profit
PRETOMA, this spring we completed our first study to gauge the effects of small-scale fishing and turtle bycatch near the
La Flor Wildlife Refuge
where we focus our turtle conservation efforts. Our objective was to
establish a scientific baseline and reasonable guidelines for our
community-managed sustainable fishing initiative.
Over the course of the study, Paso Pacifico's team, along with the
scientists from PRETOMA, also conducted a series of workshops for
fishermen. The workshops provided a forum for net, line, and dive
fishermen to learn about sustainable fishing, acquire new skills for
rescuing turtles caught in their gear, obtain the vessel safety skills
for the marine licenses required by law, and identify leaders to help
spearhead the sustainable fisheries initiative.
There is still much work to be done in terms of understanding the
seasonal patterns of fish populations, helping fishing boats upgrade to
turtle-friendly fishing gear, and supporting the sustainable fisheries
with continued training and tools as they develop sustainable practices,
but we are excited by what PRETOMA and
DANIDA
have helped us accomplish thus far. We have already helped close the
knowledge gap caused by the lack of bycatch information from small-scale
fisheries described in the
first-ever study on global patterns of turtle bycatch.
Summaries of the initial fisheries study, as well as results from the workshop, are available on our
website in Spanish and English.
