Protected Marine Species Research Articles

Reducing sea turtle bycatch with net illumination in an Indonesian small-scale coastal gillnet fishery

Small-scale fisheries are economically and culturally important throughout the world’s coastal waters. These fisheries, however, often have high bycatch rates of protected marine species. Bycatch in small scale gillnet fisheries is thought to be a major driver behind the declines of several sea turtle populations. Recent studies addressing this issue have identified net illumination as a potentially effective bycatch reduction technology (BRT) to reduce sea turtle interactions with gillnet fisheries. In Southeast Asia, small-scale gillnet fisheries make up a large components of fishing effort often in areas that overlap with important sea turtle habitat. We conducted controlled experiments of net illumination as a potential BRT to reduce sea turtle bycatch in a coastal gillnet fishery based in Paloh, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Results indicated that net illumination significantly reduced multi-species sea turtle bycatch by 61.4% and specifically green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas) by 59.5%, while the CPUE of total catch and target species remained similar. Moreover, this study suggests that Indonesian fishers can increase their overall market value when using net illumination as the market value per unit effort (MVPUE) of both the total catch and target catch showed significant increases. These results suggest that net illumination could be an effective sea turtle conservation tool for small-scale coastal gillnet fisheries in Indonesia and potentially throughout Southeast Asia. In addition, data from the control treatments of this study also provided the first observer based sea turtle bycatch estimate for a small-scale gillnet fishery in Southeast Asia. Challenges to the broad scale implementation of net illumination to reduce this bycatch of sea turtles include the cost, availability of the technology, socialization of the BRT to fishers, and government interest and support for net illumination as a tool for bycatch reduction.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) minimum recommendations for use of passive acoustic listening systems in offshore wind energy development monitoring and mitigation programs

Offshore wind energy development is rapidly advancing in United States waters to meet state and federal renewable energy goals. With a diverse suite of endangered large whale species and a multitude of other protected marine species inhabiting these same waters, understanding the potential consequences of construction and operation activities is essential to advancing responsible offshore wind development. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) represents a newer technology that has become one of several methods of choice for monitoring trends in the soundscape, presence of species, mitigating risk, and monitoring potential behavioral and distributional changes resulting from offshore wind activities. Federal and State regulators, the offshore wind industry, and environmental advocates require detailed information on PAM capabilities and techniques needed to promote efficient, consistent, and meaningful data collection efforts on local and regional scales. We provide capabilities and suggested applications of archival and real-time PAM systems, PAM study design considerations, and data management needs. We also provide key considerations for long-term baseline monitoring and vessel strike risk reduction using PAM. These recommendations provide an initial guide for stakeholders seeking to use PAM systems associated with the rapid expansion of offshore wind development in the United States.

NOAA and BOEM Minimum Recommendations for Use of Passive Acoustic Listening Systems in Offshore Wind Energy Development Monitoring and Mitigation Programs

Offshore wind energy development is rapidly ramping up in United States (U.S.) waters in order to meet renewable energy goals. With a diverse suite of endangered large whale species and a multitude of other protected marine species frequenting these same waters, understanding the potential consequences of construction and operation activities is essential to advancing responsible offshore wind development. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) represents a newer technology that has become one of several methods of choice for monitoring trends in the presence of species, the soundscape, mitigating risk, and evaluating potential behavioral and distributional changes resulting from offshore wind activities. Federal and State regulators, the offshore wind industry, and environmental advocates require detailed information on PAM capabilities and techniques needed to promote efficient, consistent, and meaningful data collection efforts on local and regional scales. PAM during offshore wind construction and operation may be required by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management through project-related permits and approvals issued pursuant to relevant statutes and regulations. The recommendations in this paper aim to support this need as well as to aid the development of project-specific PAM Plans by identifying minimum procedures, system requirements, and other important components for inclusion, while promoting consistency across plans. These recommendations provide an initial guide for stakeholders to meet the rapid development of the offshore wind industry in United States waters. Approaches to PAM and agency requirements will evolve as future permits are issued and construction plans are approved, regional research priorities are refined, and scientific publications and new technologies become available.

Sea turtle strandings, sightings and accidental catch along the Croatian Adriatic coast

The northern Adriatic Sea has long been known as the foraging and developmental habitat of loggerhead sea turtles. Previous literature on stranded, floating, sighted, and accidentally caught sea turtles is fragmentary and mainly obtained from this shallower northern part. This work presents data on 272 records of stranded, floating, sighted and accidentally captured turtles within the entire Croatian Adriatic. The data was collected through the national stranding network for strictly protected marine species run by the Croatian Agency for the Environment and Nature during a six-year period (2010-2015). We focused on analysing spatial and temporal observations, age structure, and reporting sources. The collected morphometric data revealed that most measured C. caretta (85%) were immature individuals found stranded and floating at sea. These observations were location-dependent with a tendency towards the shallow northern areas (≤200 m). Most of the stranded individuals were severely decomposed preventing the determination of possible mortality causes. Most non-decomposed individuals had fishery- or boat-inflicted mechanical injuries confirming fishing activities and boat collisions as threats to young C. caretta individuals in the Croatian Adriatic Sea. Results also revealed an important contribution of local people in reporting the C. caretta strandings and sightings whereas most accidentally caught individuals were reported by unknown sources. Altogether, the data presented in this paper indicate possibilities for improving the ongoing sea turtle monitoring and conservation activities along the entire Croatian Adriatic coast.

Drivers of spatiotemporal variability in bycatch of a top marine predator: First evidence for the role of water turbidity in protected species bycatch

Abstract Bycatch of protected species in static net fisheries is a global conservation concern and is currently considered the dominant anthropogenic threat facing many marine mammal species. Effective bycatch mitigation remains challenging, contingent on an understanding of the underlying mechanisms that cause individuals to become entangled. We combined data collected by scientific observers and fishers to identify predictors of seal bycatch in static net fisheries along the west, southwest and south coasts of Ireland. We first analysed the broad regional and seasonal trends in seal bycatch before identifying environmental variables that could explain these patterns. Based on negative binomial generalized linear mixed effects models, seal bycatch significantly varied with season and decreased with greater distance to major seal colonies and in clearer, less turbid water. Synthesis and applications. Our results suggest that distance to major seal colonies was a significant driver of spatial variation in seal bycatch, and water turbidity a major driver of seasonal trends. These findings will enable us to identify future bycatch risk and target mitigation measures effectively. This is the first study to identify the effect of water turbidity on bycatch of a protected marine species. Increasing net visibility in turbid waters may provide a novel approach to mitigating against protected species bycatch in static net fisheries.

Attitude, perception and awareness of stakeholders towards the protected marine species in the Andaman Islands

Examining stakeholder's knowledge, perception and attitudes are necessary for effective implementation of laws that are designed to protect and conserve marine biodiversity. In order to understand knowledge, awareness and perception about the law and the species that are protected under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, I interviewed (N = 159) stakeholders (77 fishermen, 39 authorities and 41 middlemen/traders) in the Andaman Islands, India. Within respondents, mean awareness about different protected marine species was (80%) amongst authorities, followed by (63%) amongst traders/middlemen and (59%) amongst fishermen. The awareness about a few charismatic groups i.e., mammals, reptiles and cnidarians high; whereas awareness about elasmobranchs, fish, sea cucumbers and molluscs low amongst the respondent groups. Amongst several species traded in the islands, the sea cucumber, the trochus and the turbo are in high demand, and there is demand from middlemen and fishers to delist these species. Generalised model revealed that the years of fishing experience, occupation, annual income and age of respondents are important factors in determining awareness of locals towards protected species. Solutions suggested by stakeholders are strict enforcement of the law, education and awareness of protected species, a special task force for dealing with the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, need to curb poaching from foreigners etc. All fishers sell their catch to middlemen/traders who in turn send their catch to mainland India (Tamil Nadu and Kolkata). The knowledge about which government department is responsible for implementation and monitoring of the law is limited amongst all stakeholder groups. The study demonstrates that stakeholder's knowledge, perception and attitude can offer valuable insights towards strengthening the law that protects marine species. Similar studies should be carried out across different coastal states to understand the level of awareness of stakeholders towards protected marine species. Creating awareness, inclusiveness of local stakeholders in decision making, empowering authorities in monitoring can help in strengthening the existing law framework for protected marine species.

Utilizing the R/V Marcus G. Langseth's streamer to measure the acoustic radiation of its seismic source in the shallow waters of New Jersey's continental shelf.

Shallow water marine seismic surveys are necessary to understand a range of Earth processes in coastal environments, including those that represent major hazards to society such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and sea-level rise. Predicting the acoustic radiation of seismic sources in shallow water, which is required for compliance with regulations designed to limit impacts on protected marine species, is a significant challenge in this environment because of variable reflectivity due to local geology, and the susceptibility of relatively small bathymetric features to focus or shadow acoustic energy. We use data from the R/V Marcus G. Langseth’s towed hydrophone streamer to estimate the acoustic radiation of the ship’s seismic source during a large survey of the shallow shelf off the coast of New Jersey. We use the results to estimate the distances from the source to acoustic levels of regulatory significance, and use bathymetric data from the ship’s multibeam system to explore the relationships between seafloor depth and slope and the measured acoustic radiation patterns. We demonstrate that existing models significantly overestimate mitigation radii, but that the variability of received levels in shallow water suggest that in situ real-time measurements would help improve these estimates, and that post-cruise revisions of received levels are valuable in accurately determining the potential acoustic impact of a seismic survey.

Effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on protected marine species

Effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on protected marine species

Editorial: The Economics of Protected Marine Species: Concepts in Research and Management

Editorial: The Economics of Protected Marine Species: Concepts in Research and Management

Vast assembly of vocal marine mammals from diverse species on fish spawning ground.

Observing marine mammal (MM) populations continuously in time and space over the immense ocean areas they inhabit is challenging but essential for gathering an unambiguous record of their distribution, as well as understanding their behaviour and interaction with prey species. Here we use passive ocean acoustic waveguide remote sensing (POAWRS) in an important North Atlantic feeding ground to instantaneously detect, localize and classify MM vocalizations from diverse species over an approximately 100,000 km(2) region. More than eight species of vocal MMs are found to spatially converge on fish spawning areas containing massive densely populated herring shoals at night-time and diffuse herring distributions during daytime. We find the vocal MMs divide the enormous fish prey field into species-specific foraging areas with varying degrees of spatial overlap, maintained for at least two weeks of the herring spawning period. The recorded vocalization rates are diel (24 h)-dependent for all MM species, with some significantly more vocal at night and others more vocal during the day. The four key baleen whale species of the region: fin, humpback, blue and minke have vocalization rate trends that are highly correlated to trends in fish shoaling density and to each other over the diel cycle. These results reveal the temporospatial dynamics of combined multi-species MM foraging activities in the vicinity of an extensive fish prey field that forms a massive ecological hotspot, and would be unattainable with conventional methodologies. Understanding MM behaviour and distributions is essential for management of marine ecosystems and for accessing anthropogenic impacts on these protected marine species.

Moving Towards Dynamic Ocean Management: How Well Do Modeled Ocean Products Predict Species Distributions?

Species distribution models are now widely used in conservation and management to predict suitable habitat for protected marine species. The primary sources of dynamic habitat data have been in situ and remotely sensed oceanic variables (both are considered “measured data”), but now ocean models can provide historical estimates and forecast predictions of relevant habitat variables such as temperature, salinity, and mixed layer depth. To assess the performance of modeled ocean data in species distribution models, we present a case study for cetaceans that compares models based on output from a data assimilative implementation of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) to those based on measured data. Specifically, we used seven years of cetacean line-transect survey data collected between 1991 and 2009 to develop predictive habitat-based models of cetacean density for 11 species in the California Current Ecosystem. Two different generalized additive models were compared: one built with a full suite of ROMS output and another built with a full suite of measured data. Model performance was assessed using the percentage of explained deviance, root mean squared error (RMSE), observed to predicted density ratios, and visual inspection of predicted and observed distributions. Predicted distribution patterns were similar for models using ROMS output and measured data, and showed good concordance between observed sightings and model predictions. Quantitative measures of predictive ability were also similar between model types, and RMSE values were almost identical. The overall demonstrated success of the ROMS-based models opens new opportunities for dynamic species management and biodiversity monitoring because ROMS output is available in near real time and can be forecast.

Spatiotemporal occurrence of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on the West Florida Shelf and apparent overlap with a commercial fishery

Information on the spatial and temporal distribution of protected marine species is critical for the development of conservation strategies. We examined a 12-year dataset describing the postnesting residence areas of 81 adult female loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) on the West Florida Shelf (WFS) in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The aggregation of loggerheads on the WFS represents at least four US recovery units for this protected species. We identified several seasonally persistent residence areas that were shared by multiple loggerheads on the WFS. The majority (69%) of individuals remained within a discrete residence area throughout the tracking period. We placed our results within the context of a related fishery management concern — loggerhead bycatch within the bottom longline component of the Gulf commercial reef-fish fishery. We characterized loggerhead residence areas and compared that information with fishing activity. Our results provide information on the distribution of WFS loggerhead residence areas and the extent to which residence areas overlap with areas of high fishing effort. Loggerheads were present year-round on portions of the WFS, within or near to areas with high fishing effort. Interactions among loggerheads and fishing activities could be reduced by conservation management strategies that consider these spatial and seasonal patterns of occurrence.

Artificial Marine Micro‐Reserves Networks (AMMRNs): an innovative approach to conserve marine littoral biodiversity and protect endangered species

AbstractCoastal engineering works, especially the outer breakwaters of ports where environmental conditions are usually good, often constitute new habitats for marine littoral species. Their potential indirect contribution to the regeneration and conservation of protected species opens up a new perspective in protection of marine biodiversity. This is particularly true when these works harbour, as we show here, important reproductive populations of species that are threatened or even in danger of extinction. We provide integrated data on protected marine species in Southern Iberia established on different substrata (quarried dolomitic rocks, concrete cubic blocks, concrete tetrapods and vertical concrete walls) that are used in the construction of artificial levees that could potentially be Artificial Marine Micro‐Reserves (AMMRs). We also present the first evidence of the ‘reserve effect’ in potential AMMRs and we discuss the need for the creation of AMMRs including their effective networking (AMMRNs), supporting data for which has been observed by studying coastal facilities subjected to strict access restrictions (for security reasons, not conservation). These facilities have acted as valuable proxies and, in reality, potentially act as AMMRs, as well as having a role in helping to detect and control invasive species. We discuss the ecological engineering aspects related to the design and type of materials used in coastal constructions with a view to aiding the integration of these into existing coastal ecosystems as well as promoting greater settlement of species and therefore increases in biodiversity. Finally, the environmental implications of AMMRNs within the future implementation strategy of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60 EC are also discussed.

Underwater sound from pile driving and protected marine species issues

With current, wide-spread coastal construction projects and the predicted development of offshore wind energy, there are concerns regarding the potential impacts of underwater sound associated with pile driving activities on protected marine species. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) works to conserve, protect, and recover a variety of marine species, including marine mammals, marine and anadromous fishes, and sea turtles, protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and/or Endangered Species Act (ESA). In order to make management decisions for these protected species, we rely on scientific data to inform our policy. However, there are many challenges, including determining appropriate acoustic criteria and metrics for injury and behavioral harassment for impact and vibratory pile driving activities; understanding acoustic propagation in complex environments, especially shallow, coastal areas and throughout sediments; establishing appropriate protocols to mitigate and monitor impacts; and managing uncertainty for the broad number of species under our jurisdiction, who use and depend on sound (pressure and particle motion) in a variety of ways. Thus, we work collaboratively with other federal, state, and local government agencies, academia, nongovernmental agencies, and industry to best assess and manage risk from these activities.

Dolphins and Children: A Blueprint for Marine Environmental Education in Peru

To complement legislative measures protecting cetaceans and other marine animals, the Peruvian Centre for Cetacean Research in the period 1993–2000 implemented an environmental education program at the kindergartens, primary and high schools of several fishing towns and in Lima, Peru. This program included environmental classes based on selected thematic videos and educational booklets, creative “marine” workshops, art competitions, guided visits to the Museo de Delfines' in Pucusana and other public events. Approximately 1,920 and 2,135 pupils attended at least one environmental class in 1998 and 1999, respectively. Between September 1997 and February 2000, nearly 1,700 children visited the museum. Five hundred and twenty-three children from Pucusana and Cerro Azul participated in workshops in 1998. In 1999, this number increased to 579 for Pucusana alone. In May 2001, personal interviews were conducted with 55 children in the sixth grade of a primary school in Pucusana to evaluate their knowledge on the conservation themes tackled during the classes. A mean of 77% (min. 40%– max. 98%) of the pupils answered correctly 16 questions on the basic biology of aquatic animals and their environment. The material displayed in the museum was well to very well remembered by 87.3% of the children. Forty-nine (89.1%) of those pupils thought that it is necessary to protect aquatic animals and 54 of them (98.2%) wished to receive more environmental classes and to visit the museum again. Children and adolescents from Pucusana and Cerro Azul, the villages where the program has run for the longest period, displayed an increasing interest, knowledge, and awareness for cetaceans and other protected marine species. The same tendency was noted in the more recently visited fishing towns of Chancay and Chimbote. We believe that our environmental education program is efficiently complementing existing legislation protecting cetaceans, sea turtles, penguins, sea lions, and other marine wildlife in Peruvian waters.

PROTECTED SPECIES AND NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES: AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM AND CONSERVATION STRATEGIES

Protected species issues are an integral part of New England fishery management. Significant interactions of marine mammals and sea turtles with commercial fishing gear have been documented for many years. Statutes and regulations governing commercial fishery/protected species inter- actions provide for conservation and recovery of protected marine species. Some species of marine mammals, sea turtles, and fish are listed under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and all marine mammals are managed under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Both these statues have provisions linking them to commercial fisheries and provide varied strategies for reaching conservation goals. Interactions of protected species with commercial fishing gear range from direct entanglement, capture, and disruption of normal behav- iors, to adverse modification of critical habitats. For the foreseeable future of New England fisheries, it is likely that wherever protected species and fishing activity co-occur, interactions will continue. Management trends include in- creased stakeholder involvement, close coordination with fishery management, and emphasis on technological solutions to interaction problems.