Page 19 - ARUBA BANK

A14 LOCAL
Friday 11 OctOber 2019

At least ten reef-associated shark species in the Dutch Caribbean

baseline for current shark were conducted on Saba,
diversity, distribution, abun- Saba Bank and St. Eustatius
dance, spatial behaviour to better understand the
and population structure local population of sharks
for inshore reefs around the and rays and their relative
Dutch Caribbean islands. abundances, and were
funded by the Dutch Gov-
There were two methods ernment. Starting in 2015,
used by the researchers to as part of the SOS project,
study sharks. One method additional studies were
used Baited Remote Under- conducted to include the
water Video (BRUV) which waters around Bonaire, Cu-
used a device consisting raçao and Sint Maarten.
of two cameras set in front In 2017 a BRUV survey was
of a baited feed bag. The done at Aruba, financed
idea is that as sharks come by Global Finprint.
near the bait bag to feed,
video footage can be In addition, as part of the
collected to identify and SOS project, acoustic te-
count local shark popula- lemetry was also used to
tions. The other method better understand the
was acoustic telemetry to movements of sharks,
track sharks. In this method, habitat use, migration and
a small acoustic tracking connectivity between is-
device is implanted within lands. The telemetry study
the shark. Acoustic receiv- tracked two shark species,
ers are installed at specific Caribbean reef shark (Car-
locations, and whenever charhinus perezi) and nurse
sharks with these transmit- shark (Ginglymostoma cir-
ters travel near the receiver ratum) around Saba (from
(within a range of 450 to 2014) and then around
850 metres) they are re- Saba Bank, Sint Maarten
corded. and Sint Eustatius (from
2015).
Caribbean reef shark in the Man of War Shoal Marine Park , Sint Maarten. The first studies using BRUV Continued on Next Page
Photo credit: Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern

WAGENINGEN, THE NETHER- radation and the risk of a truth; these magnificent
LANDS — Wageningen Ma- shark fin market develop- creatures are essential to
rine Research reported ten ing, which would lead to healthy oceans and risks to
reef-associated shark spe- targeted fishing of sharks. humans are small.
cies in the Dutch Caribbean
in a recent published study We need healthy oceans DCNA’s Save Our Sharks
as part of Dutch Caribbean and healthy oceans need Project
Nature Alliance (DCNA)’s sharks There is a lack of knowl-
Save Our Sharks Project. Sharks keep our oceans edge concerning the dis-
The most common species healthy. These top preda- tribution and abundance
are the nurse shark and tors remove sick or weak of shark and ray species
the Caribbean reef shark. members of their prey throughout the Dutch Ca-
Overall, more sharks were populations. A decrease ribbean. To combat this
observed in conservation in number of sharks leads knowledge gap, from 2015-
areas than in unprotected to a disturbed natural bal- 2018, DCNA ran the “Save
areas, highlighting the im- ance in the sea. This can our Sharks” (SOS) project
portance of these zones in affect the overall fish popu- for the Dutch Caribbean,
shark conservation. lation, and good fish stocks funded by the Dutch Post-
are not only important for code Lottery. In this project
More than 100 million sharks fishermen that depend on DCNA collaborated with lo-
are killed each year as a fishing but also for (dive) cal fisherman and scientists
result of fishing and shark tourism and the local com- and aimed to build popu-
finning activities, twice the munity. lar support for shark and
rate at which they can re- ray conservation amongst
produce. The demand for Respect, not fear, sharks the local community, as
fins and other shark prod- Sharks are some of the well as increasing knowl-
ucts has driven a number most misunderstood spe- edge about shark and ray
of species close to extinc- cies. For generations sharks species within the region
tion. Sharks are especially had an undeserved bad by conducting a number
vulnerable to overfishing reputation. People tend to of research projects.
and habitat degradation see them as terrifying ani-
as they are late to mature mals that pose a danger Shark Research
and produce few young. to everything that swims in A recently published study
The main threats to sharks the ocean, including hu- by Wageningen Marine Re- Nurse shark on the Saba Bank which is part of the Yarari Marine
Mammal and Shark Sanctuary.
in our waters are acciden- mans. But we now know search as part of DCNA’s Photo credit: Hans Leijnse (SHAPE/DCNA)
tal bycatch, habitat deg- that is very far from the SOS Project established a