Download Sharks within the Galapagos Marine Reserve

Sharks within the Galapagos Marine Reserve:
Protecting one of the last world’s shark sanctuary.
The Galapagos:
a marine biodiversity
UNESCO’s Natural
World Heritage Site
Galapagos – a Marine Protected Area
The Galapagos Marine Reserve (GMR), declared in
1998 as a multiple-use reserve, is one of the largest
marine protected areas in the world, covering an area
of 138,000 km2 in the Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP)
region. The Galapagos Archipelago is composed of 13
volcanic islands and over 100 emergent rocks and
islets located astride the equator and 1000 km west
from the coast of Ecuador. The large number of
islands, rocks and unmapped seamounts make up a
vast and diverse habitat for sharks.
So what’s special about Galapagos?
The oceanographic setting of the Galapagos Islands is of
a highly dynamic nature due to the influence of three
major currents that converge at the archipelago. This
unique oceanographic regime and the remote location of
the Archipelago are the reasons for one of the world’s
highest concentrations of endemic species, besides being
renowned as one of the most pristine and less impacted
marine ecosystem in the tropics. Their unique biological
and historical identity has earned the Galapagos Marine
Reserve to be recognized as a Natural World Heritage
Site by UNESCO.
The work of the Galapagos National Park Directorate
(GNPD), management authority for the GMR, and the
Charles Darwin Foundation (CDF), scientific advisor to
the Government of Ecuador in relation to Galapagos
conservation, began over fifty years ago. An important
effort has been put by both institutions in protecting its
waters by improving management regulations through
resources assessment.
Galapagos Marine
Reserve:
one of the last and
largest shark
sanctuaries in the
world
SHARKS IN THE GMR
The Tropical Eastern Pacific (TEP) is home to abundant populations of sharks and other marine predators. In the
GMR sharks use its waters as feeding and nursery grounds or to aggregate in large schools on their migrations.
Sharks inhabit every habitat present, from bottom dwellers and deep-sea scavengers to reef and pelagic predators.
Hammerheads, Galapagos, blacktips and whale sharks, among other species, gather in great numbers, moving
freely across the GMR. Sharks, however, are not homogeneously distributed along the marine reserve. Each
species have their own sensitive areas, understanding as those locations where sharks consistently spend critical
stages of their life cycle, as nursery grounds in the case of neonates and juveniles, or adults aggregating sites,
where sharks carry out essential activities, as feeding, socialization and/or reproduction.
With more than two decades of shark protection the marine reserve constitutes one of the last and largest shark
sanctuaries in the world.
Keystone ecological and socioeconomic species
As apex predators, sharks are likely to strongly
influence food web structure, playing an essential role
in keeping marine ecosystems healthy and balanced,
increasing their resilience against large-scale impacts,
such as climate change or overfishing. Their removal
may lead ecosystem alteration and possible
degradation of whole habitats. Additionally, there is a
growing tourism activity in Galapagos, which is the base
of local economy, where sharks also play a crucial role.
This has proven to be an environmentally sustainable
economic activity, especially against extractive
activities like fishing.
Shark conservation
is essential to ensure
continuity of the
ecosystem services
provided by the GMR
The importance and urgency of this study
Nearly fifteen years after the creation of the GMR as an
MPA, the exponential growth of urban and tourism in
recent years have increased significantly human
pressure on marine resources, with 45 Galapagos
marine species included in the IUCN RL, including all
species targeted by this project. The GMR today faces
significant challenges that require comprehensive and
up-to-date regulatory measures to ensure the longterm conservation of its resources. Only then can
continuity of the GMR’s ecosystem services, which are
essential to the sustainable livelihoods of local
communities, be assured while at the same time
strengthening the GMR’s resilience.
Sharks sensitive areas and critical habitats
With a global concern about the decline of shark
populations worldwide and despite sharks importance
in Galapagos, it has not yet conducted a shark
population assessment in the GMR. This is essential to
identify trends and evaluate the protection
effectiveness of the marine reserve. Additionally, the
identification and characterization of their sensitive
areas will allow to determine which habitats play a
critical role throughout shark life cycles, providing the
base for their proper management and protection.
Since the establishment of the reserve in 1998 shark
fishing is banned. However, under current zoning
scheme, only 20% of GMR’s coastline is protected from
extractive uses, with most shark sensitive areas and
critical habitats open to fishing without no regulation or
management.
There is therefore an urgent need for objective,
science-based information to enable us to understand
the status of shark populations in Galapagos, as well as
to evaluate the ways to improve the effectiveness of
the marine reserve in their protection. The current
management plan of the GMR is now under
evaluation and review. So we are at a critical moment
to ensure that all new management decisions relating
to the management of coastal activities and open
water take into account shark population status and
sensitive zones and critical habitats, based on the
fullest possible scientific information.
An innovative
improvement to
survey sharks and
fish assemblages
Stereo-video system: a revolutionary way to survey sharks
Sharks surveys for population assessment
Sharks survey and census are essential to assess the
status of shark populations and identify their trends,
which is the basis for their management.
Sharks surveys have been traditionally carried out
through underwater visual censuses (UVC), where
trained divers collect in situ data about shark species
presence, abundance, sexes and size range. This survey
methodology has several disadvantages, as the accuracy
of data collected depends on the capacity of the diver
and this is not constant between different divers. At the
same time, some species of large, mobile animals,
including sharks, frequently avoid SCUBA divers, so UVC
may not reflect their presence and abundance in the
most accurate way.
Stereo video systems can be used in two
complementary ways: DOVS (dive operated video
system) or BRUVS (baited remote underwater video
stations). We use both methodologies to improve
significantly our survey efficacy, capacity and results.
Video recording techniques are emerging as
alternatives to in situ data collection by divers.
Permanent video record allows impartial, repeatable
measurements that enables standardized data
collection in a remarkably popular format to
communicate science to the public. Recently, the
appearance of the innovative stereo video system
technique
(two
fixed
cameras
recording
synchronously), allows in addition to obtain accurate
length and sample areas measurements.
BRUVS in the absence of divers allow to record
larger, mobile species from a much wider size range
of families, so it has been using in the most
comprehensive explorations of seafloor biodiversity.
The CDF role:
Scientific advisor to
the Galapagos
National Park
What we want to achieve
The conservation of shark populations and the ecosystem services they provide in the GMR, identifying and
protecting their major sensitive areas and critical habitats and carrying out the first shark population assessment
in Galapagos.
How we get it done
•Identifying and characterizing most important shark sensitive areas and critical habitats within the GMR.
•Carrying out the first shark population assessment within the GMR based in these indicators:
Relative abundance
Population structure and biomass
Recruitment rate
Environmental parameters
Anthropogenic impacts
We will implement for the first time in the region a combination of innovative survey techniques based on the
use of stereo-video cameras obtaining a significant improvement in the results.
•Producing shark population models for targeted species.
•Improving understanding of ecosystem function and ecosystem services in the GMR, including sharks habitat
use and ecologic role.
•Providing technical assistance and advise to GNPD in the GMR’s Management Plan review and open process for
a new zoning scheme.
•Launching a citizen science program to involve local fishermen and guides in shark research and conservation.
•Raising awareness about the ecologic and socioeconomic importance of shark conservation for Galapagos
community among the key stakeholders involved, including the local community.
Resulting in…
•A new zoning scheme of GMR that results in the establishment of new protection zones in the major
shark sensitive areas and critical habitats.
• A Sensitive Atlas for Sharks in the GMR which combines all the information collected on sensitive areas
and critical habitats with population models.
• A time-series database on shark abundance and population structure within the GMR.
•An open collaboration platform in shark research with local fishermen and guides.
•Informative talks, events and outreach materials for the local community, including local schools, fishing
and tourism sectors.
•Peer review publications in high impact factor scientific journals.