Context

Globally, more than 121 million people enjoy nature-based marine tourism, making it one of the largest marine industries. Ocean degradation threatens this industry and management has not kept pace to ensure long-term sustainability.

In response, some individuals within the industry are taking it upon themselves to monitor the ocean and provide the data needed to assist management decisions. Fiji is one such place.

Aims

Between 2012 and 2016, 39 Fijian dive operators, in collaboration with eOceans, conducted the Great Fiji Shark Count to document sharks on their dives. Methods.

Using 146 304 shark observations from 30 668 dives, we document spatial and temporal patterns of 11 shark species at 592 sites.

Key results

Sharks were observed on 13 846 dives (45% of recorded dives) at 441 (74%) sites. Generally, our results matched those from other more limited surveys, including from baited remote underwater video systems.

We found high variability in shark presence, species richness, and relative abundance through space and time.

One trend was surprising: the most common species, Whitetip Reef Shark, decreased over the study period at eastern sites and increased at western sites; the cause is currently unknown.

Conclusions

Our results can guide management and conservation needs, future scientific questions, and provide a baseline for future assessments. Implications.

This study demonstrates the value of longitudinal observation data that includes absences for describing marine fauna, and confirms the capacity of stakeholders to document the ocean.

It also points the direction for broadscale participatory science methodologies to track the ocean.

Keywords: citizen science, conservation, community monitoring, elasmobranchs, endangered species, marine spatial planning, participatory science, sustainability, tourism

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Pacific Conservation Biology 29(5) 402-418 https://doi.org/10.1071/PC22009

For full list of author affiliations and declarations see end of paper

*Correspondence to: C. A. Ward-Paige eOceans, Dartmouth, NS, Canada Email: [email protected] Handling Editor: Alan Lymbery

Published: 11 October 2022

Cite this: Ward-Paige CA et al. (2023) Pacific Conservation Biology, 29(5), 402–418. doi:10.1071/PC22009

© 2023 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0

International License (CC BY-NC-ND).

https://www.publish.csiro.au/PC/PC22009

Provisioning activities in wildlife tourism often lead to short-term animal aggregations during the feeding events. However, the presence of groups does not necessarily mean that individuals interact among each other and form social networks.

At the Shark Reef Marine Reserve in Fiji, several dozen bull sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) regularly visit a site, where direct feeding is conducted during tourism driven shark dives.

More info here…

Shark Reef Marine Reserve (SRMR) is a section of patch reef approximately 3 Km from the southern shore of Viti Levu in the Fiji Islands. In 2014 it was declared a statutory marine reserve under the Fisheries Act of 1942 (Cap 158) with the specific objective of protecting shark populations in the area.

Shark feeding for the purpose of creating an attraction for tourist SCUBA divers and researchers has been carried out at one specific site on the reef front since 1999, although at a reduced level during Covid-19-related closures in 2020 and 2021.

More info here…

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly important in the fight for ocean conservation, but a new study has shown that to be most effective for sharks and rays, they need to be combined with a total ban on the take of vulnerable species.

More info here…

The Great Shark Snapshot, one of the Shark Trust’s citizen scientist initiatives, in which divers and snorkellers around the world are asked to record the sharks and rays they see is set to return in 2024 between 20 and 28 July 2024.

More info here…

This study compiled data from various sources, including a literature review, participatory science programs, and environmental DNA to assess the diversity and occurrence of batoids in Fiji’s waters.

More info here…

A new research published by the Pacific Conservation Biology, Community-driven shark monitoring for informed decision making: a case study from Fiji, reveals 146,304 sharks were observed in Fiji waters between 2012 and 2016.

More info here…

The Great Fiji Shark Count contributed identification posters to Fiji’s Bycatch Guidelines & Bycatch Mitigation Toolkits, the latest in a series of initiatives designed to reduce the amount of sharks, turtles, seabirds and other “bycatch” species that may be accidentally harmed during tuna fishing activities.

More info here…

We’d like to spread word on the newly published ‘Sharks and Rays of Papua New Guinea’, the first ever comprehensive reference of sharks, rays and chimaeras found in PNG waters – a number of which are found in close association with coral reefs.

It has a user-friendly layout and contains information on identifying features, size, distribution, habitat, biology and conservation status of 132 species.

It may be of interest to some here as many sharks are in common with Fiji’s.More info here…

The Shark Reef Marine Reserve in Fiji is an ecotourism project designed to protect a small reef patch and its fauna while preserving the livelihood of local communities.

It involves the local communities by using a participatory business planning approach to Marine Protected Area management, generating income through diver user fees, distributed to the local villages that have exchanged their traditional fishing rights in the marine reserve for this new source of income.More info here…

So we had a very good question in an email recently asking for an explanation of shark count method and analysis used in the Great Fiji Shark Count. Helen answered below.

More info here…

An exercise held across Fiji waters during the months of April and November to ascertain the shark and ray population enters its fifth year this month. The Great Fiji Shark Count, started by a group of scientists and tourism operators and led by Beqa Adventure Divers in Pacific Harbour and Marine Ecology Consulting in Lami, encourages divers to record and report any instances where they encounter sharks, rays and turtles; recording the number of sightings and species.

Mr Ian Campbell, WWF’s Global Shark Programme Manager said, “The Great Fiji Shark Count is a fantastic initiative, and WWF applauds all dive operators who participate.

One of the biggest barriers to effective shark conservation is a lack of basic information on shark and ray populations. This is a problem we see throughout the Pacific, and a programme like this can provide some fundamental data for governments to be able to develop sustainable management plans and conservation measures for sharks and rays.”

“The beauty of the Great Fiji Shark Count is that it uses a fantastic resource of dive tourists who not only generate income for Fiji, but also reduce the cost to government for collecting much needed data. WWF would love to see similar initiatives set up throughout the Pacific which is why we are publicly backing the project,” Mr Campbell added.

Dive tourism plays a huge part in Fiji’s economy, with estimates of shark diving alone being worth over US$42 million (FJ$85 million). Mr Ben Saqata, a marine biologist at Beqa Adventure Divers said given that information, a group of prominent shark researchers recognised that tourists were potentially a great resource to help the Fijian government get more information on sharks, rays and turtles found in Fiji.

“With that in mind, they contacted like-minded individuals in Fiji who organized funding, developed the methodology and support materials, and then mobilized the Fiji dive tourism industry for this important citizen science initiative. We are proud to have participated in this event from the get-go, and can’t wait to see a first in-depth analysis of population trends of Fiji’s sharks, rays and turtles now that we dispose of a full five years of data. Our particular thanks go to Dr. Christine Ward-Paige of e-Shark whose support and guidance has been invaluable, and to the many sponsors who have helped turn this vision into reality,” Mr Saqata added.

Marine biologist Ms Helen Sykes, who coordinates the analysis of the data says the information generated will be analysed and compiled into a report that will show shark, ray and turtle population trends over the past five years.

“Back in 2011, the original idea for the Great Fiji Shark Count was to collect data that was otherwise unavailable, and provide it to the Department of Fisheries to inform their conservation and management plans. It is very hard to collect data on shark populations without an enormous amount of resources, but we have tourist divers in the water all over the countries who are very interested in shark conservation, and they are able to collect information that would take millions of dollars for scientists to gather. As divers love to watch sharks, rays and turtles, through this programme we are able to add to their experience, increase awareness of the importance of these species, and also raise Fiji’s profile as having a pristine reef environment that the Fijian Government wants to preserve and manage sustainably. The Great Fiji Shark Count is a win for all involved,” Ms Sykes said.

The Ministry of Fisheries is also a supporter of the programme and data collected will help the ministry with their shark management plans. This month’s Great Fiji Shark Count comes hot on the heels of Fiji’s global shark conservation successes at the recent CITES meeting in South Africa, where Fiji led calls to limit international trade in sharks and rays.

Originally published by WWF: Great Fiji Shark Count into its fifth year

http://www.wwfpacific.org/?283931%2FGreat-Fiji-Shark-Count-into-its-fifth-year

Went out for a dive at Lone Tree with Katie, Bill and Sue. Katie had been staying at Crusoe’s Retreat for almost a month and had done 20+ dives with us, Bill and Sue are from Alaska – he a bush pilot with a fund of good stories, she a marine biologist who was used to working on the contents of walruses stomachs in the Arctic.

We dropped in at Lone Tree at about 9.35 am. The aim was to find a Leopard shark that Mesake said lived at around 27 m on the sandy bottom at the edge of the reef, so we planned a max.27m multilevel dive. As we swam down the sandy bottom past the tree I was pleased to see that the viz wasn’t too bad – the channel can be pretty green and cloudy because of fresh water flowing in from the creek, but whilst it was green, it was relatively clear, 10metres or so. After a couple of minutes sculling down the reef, the first thing to turn up were 5 or 6 yellowfin barracuda. They did the usual curious cuda circle, then continued on past us .

More info here…