Workshops foster Pacific marine mammal conservation

In many parts of the world whales and dolphins depend on critical ocean habitats for their survival, but cetaceans face a mounting threat from fisheries, climate change and pollution.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the International Whaling Commission (IWC), and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) recently hosted a series of workshops as part of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded FAO Common Oceans Tuna Project.

The workshops were aimed at fostering joint efforts to strengthen marine mammal conservation in the Western Central Pacific Ocean.

Government, community, indigenous and fisheries representatives, including regulators and artisanal fishers, technical experts, scientists and conservationists took part in the workshops.

"This was the first time that Indigenous and community leaders, fisheries representatives and marine scientists met to collectively assess Pacific Islands whales and dolphins and to highlight the linkages between human culture and the health of our ocean,”

said Lindsay Porter, a cetacean expert and chair of the IWC’s scientific committee.

“The strong commitment from regional stakeholders, particularly those who work in fisheries, to drive ocean conservation forward in the Western Pacific was truly inspiring."

Many marine mammal species are known for their long-distance migrations, crossing national and international waters along ‘blue corridors’. They migrate along vital oceanic routes that connect habitats where they breed, socialise and feed their offspring and this can make them difficult to track.

The first workshop focused on identifying and conserving Blue Corridors. The Blue Corridors Initiative is a global collaboration of more than 60 partners from the marine mammal science and conservation community, working to advance whale conservation through data-driven insights, compelling visual storytelling, and science-based solutions, assessing regional challenges, and identifying critical knowledge gaps.

Once finalised, the recommendations from this workshop will be presented at the Pacific Islands Leaders Forum in Palau in September to help guide coordinated regional action.

The Common Oceans project is helping to assess cetacean bycatch and data gaps, build regional capacity and awareness, and collaboratively develop recommendations to address cetacean bycatch in the Western Central Pacific Ocean.

The second workshop provided an overview of bycatch mitigation options in the region, and an opportunity to share models for solutions through regional case studies.

It also identified key gaps for mitigating bycatch, and mapping opportunities for future bycatch mitigation projects.

The agenda included the current state of knowledge on cetacean bycatch in the region; opportunities and incentives for reporting bycatch, including reporting requirements; mitigation methods and depredation; and the identification of needs and future opportunities.

Traditional knowledge, cultural values and local insights about cetaceans were integral to the workshops and can also inform modern scientific research and conservation efforts.

“The latest scientific analysis and research can provide valuable information, but local and indigenous traditional knowledge are also critical if we are going to find long-term solutions that can contribute to global and regional biodiversity and protect marine life,”

says Viktoria Varga Lencses, Senior Fishery Officer and Coordinator of the Common Oceans Program at FAO.

Fisheries, shipping activities, pollution, disease and climate change have taken a toll on marine mammals and the workshops served to highlight and understand the regional threats and growing risks.

While several countries – Fiji Papua New Guinea, Samoa and New Zealand - have population survey data, coverage remains uneven and the workshops discussed the need to improve data collection.

Community-based fisheries management approaches are emerging in some countries, like Papua New Guinea, with local leadership playing an important role.

It’s not just about the fishing sector. Recognising the role of marine mammals in the cultural heritage and ecotourism of the Pacific region, the workshops not only looked at threats but discussed opportunities to protect cetaceans through sustainable whale watching tourism, marine protected areas and mitigation to minimise fisheries interactions.

“These workshops are already making a difference in how various stakeholders and communities work together and there is potential to build on this collaboration to ensure a more sustainable future for marine life and the marine environment,”

said Joe Zelasney, Project Manager, Common Oceans Tuna Project.

Words by Josephine McKenna, FAO.

The Common Oceans Program’s Tuna Project works with regional fisheries management organizations, non-governmental organizations and scientists to promote harvest strategies and regulatory measures that prevent over-fishing.

The project is working to make tuna fisheries sustainable in other ways. In longline and purse seine tuna fisheries, seabirds, sharks, turtles and whales can become accidentally caught in fishers' nets and lines. It works with partners to share and spread knowledge among fishers on best practices to prevent and mitigate damage to other wildlife species caused by tuna fisheries.

Learn more: https://www.fao.org/in-action/commonoceans/what-we-do/tuna-fisheries/en