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Whale shark protected in new marine conservation project

March 09, 2000

Dr Callum Roberts of the Environment Department at the University of York has been awarded £130,000 by the UK Darwin Initiative fund to work with the Belize Department of Fisheries, conservation organisations and local communities on conservation strategies for migratory species such as the threatened whale shark. Many marine migratory species are commercially valuable and have been severely over-exploited - sharks notoriously so. In particular, he and colleagues Rachel Graham and Will Heyman will assess how marine reserves could be better designed and managed to protect endangered species.

The project will provide much-needed new information on the population, ecology, movements and behaviour of these gentle giants. The initiative will focus on a recently identified large seasonal grouping of whale sharks on the southern Belize Barrier Reef, the study area where Dr Roberts and Ms Graham will work.

Although a few places are known where whale sharks gather together in the Indo-Pacific and Pacific oceans - areas where they are also hunted for their meat and fins - no such gatherings had been recorded for the Atlantic or Caribbean. In Belize and the Caribbean, these gatherings are threatened by the rapidly-growing, but as yet unregulated, whale shark tourism, and also by potential commercial over-exploitation of their food sources by fishermen.

"The Darwin project is very timely," said Dr Roberts. "It will help Belize to protect the whale shark and other migratory species which are of great economic significance. Belize has declared eight protected marine areas, but it is not known whether they are effective in protecting sharks, or how to deal with their rapidly growing value in terms of tourism. In fact, the project will be breaking new ground in that no countries have yet managed to develop effective ways of protecting open-ocean fish.

"We will define the fine and large-scale movements of whale sharks, the costs and benefits of related tourism and the optimum size of networks of protected areas capable of protecting whale sharks effectively."

The Department of Fisheries is promoting the collaborative management of several marine protected areas with conservation organisations and community groups. However, many of these organisations need assistance in strengthening their capacity to manage marine reserves. The York scientists will work closely with these partners to assist in the development of locally-driven management strategies that help to protect migratory species. Importantly, the project will also try to identify alternative economic activities to prevent further destructive and unsustainable fishing practices.

ENDS

York, University of

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