Page 32 - bon-dia-aruba-20200518

a32 local
Monday 18 May 2020

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

Continued from Page 31 Maarten, Curaçao and Bo- tected in the network on
naire to previous BRUV stud- the Saba Bank, a distance
This can affect the overall ies from Aruba, Saba, Sint of at least 160 kilometres.
fish population, and good Eustatius and Saba Bank, it
fish stocks are not only im- showed that the Aruba sur- Importance of Protected
portant for fishermen that vey had the largest shark Areas
depend on fishing but also diversity (8 species) and Both the BRUV and acous-
for (dive) tourism and the the Bonaire survey the low- tic telemetry studies
local community. est (2 species). The Saba showed higher presence of
survey documented 5 shark reef associated sharks with-
Respect, not fear, sharks species, Saba bank had in the conservation zones,
Sharks are some of the 4 shark species with Cura- along with high site fidel-
most misunderstood spe- çao, Sint Eustatius and Sint ity and small home ranges.
cies. For generations sharks Maarten each registering 3 Furthermore, as some lon-
had an undeserved bad shark species. There was an ger distance movements
reputation. People tend to additional BRUV submarine were also documented,
see them as terrifying ani- test at 300 metres deep off interconnectivity between
mals that pose a danger Caribbean reef shark in the Man of War Shoal Marine Park , Sint Curaçao which found an these areas is just begin-
to everything that swims in Maarten. Photo credit: Melanie Meijer zu Schlochtern additional shark species ning to be understood. The
the ocean, including hu- (Cuban dogfish). In total, ongoing study on acous-
mans. But we now know and population structure conducted to include the at least 10 shark species tic telemetry (funded by
that is very far from the for inshore reefs around the waters around Bonaire, Cu- were seen within the Dutch the Ministry of Agriculture,
truth; these magnificent Dutch Caribbean islands. raçao and Sint Maarten. Caribbean in the different Nature and Food Quality
creatures are essential to In 2017 a BRUV survey was BRUV surveys. (LNV)) will yield more data
healthy oceans and risks to There were two methods done at Aruba, financed on this. Therefore, not only
humans are small. used by the researchers to by Global Finprint. The acoustic telemetry stud- are local marine parks cru-
study sharks. One method ies demonstrated that both cial for the conservation
DCNA’s Save Our Sharks used Baited Remote Under- In addition, as part of the the Caribbean reef shark efforts of sharks and rays,
Project water Video (BRUV) which SOS project, acoustic te- and nurse shark have small but larger conservation
There is a lack of knowl- used a device consisting lemetry was also used to home ranges and strong networks, such as the Yarari
edge concerning the dis- of two cameras set in front better understand the site fidelity. Large crossings Marine Mammal and Shark
tribution and abundance of a baited feed bag. The movements of sharks, habi- between areas were rare, Sanctuary which com-
of shark and ray species idea is that as sharks come tat use, migration and con- and found for two Carib- promises all the waters of
throughout the Dutch Ca- near the bait bag to feed, nectivity between islands. bean reef sharks and one Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eu-
ribbean. To combat this video footage can be The telemetry study tracked nurse shark which travelled statius, are vital to protect
knowledge gap, from 2015- collected to identify and two shark species, Caribbe- between Saba and Saba entire populations.
2018, DCNA ran the “Save count local shark popula- an reef shark (Carcharhinus bank. The two Caribbean
our Sharks” (SOS) project tions. The other method perezi) and nurse shark reef sharks made short di- More information:
for the Dutch Caribbean, was acoustic telemetry to (Ginglymostoma cirratum) rected journeys back and Winter, H.V., de Graaf, M.
funded by the Dutch Post- track sharks. In this method, around Saba (from 2014) forth, whereas the nurse (2019). Diversity, abun-
code Lottery. In this project a small acoustic tracking and then around Saba shark after two years ab- dance, distribution and
DCNA collaborated with lo- device is implanted within Bank, Sint Maarten and Sint sence showed up at the habitat use reef-associated
cal fisherman and scientists the shark. Acoustic receiv- Eustatius (from 2015). Saba Bank before returning sharks in the Dutch Carib-
and aimed to build popu- ers are installed at specific to Saba. One nurse shark bean. Wageningen Uni-
lar support for shark and locations, and whenever Findings from another study on the versity & Research report
ray conservation amongst sharks with these transmit- In BRUVs deployed around US Virgin Islands was de- C105/18. q
the local community, as ters travel near the receiver Sint Maarten, Curaçao and
well as increasing knowl- (within a range of 450 to 850 Bonaire the most common
edge about shark and ray metres) they are recorded. detected shark species
species within the region were Caribbean reef shark,
by conducting a number The first studies using BRUV with Sint Maarten also fre-
of research projects. were conducted on Saba, quently showing nurse
Saba Bank and St. Eustatius sharks. Overall, more sharks
Shark Research to better understand the were observed in marine
A recently published study local population of sharks parks or areas of conserva-
by Wageningen Marine Re- and rays and their relative tion than in unprotected
search as part of DCNA’s abundances, and were areas, highlighting the im-
SOS Project established a funded by the Dutch Gov- portance of these zones in
baseline for current shark ernment. Starting in 2015, shark conservation. Further- Nurse shark on the Saba Bank which is part of the Yarari Marine
diversity, distribution, abun- as part of the SOS project, more, when comparing Mammal and Shark Sanctuary.
dance, spatial behaviour additional studies were the BRUV surveys from Sint Photo credit: Hans Leijnse (SHAPE/DCNA)