People helping turtles, turtles helping people: Understanding resident attitudes towards sea turtle conservation and opportunities for enhanced community participation in Bahia Magdalena, Mexico

Senko, Jesse; Schneller, Andrew Jon; Solis, Julio; Ollervides, Francisco; Nichols, Wallace J.

doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2010.10.030

Cited by 51 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Whereas indications of probability of being detected were obtained through interviews with illegal fishers, data on capture and sentencing rates were obtained from the Mexican department of environmental crimes (Procuraduria Federal para la Protección del Medio Ambiente, PROFEPA) and the Attorney General's office in BCS (Procuraduria General de la Republica, PGR). We used all the cases recorded by both institutions from 1995 to June 2008; however, the probability of being captured is likely an underestimate because officers sometimes receive bribes from illegal fishers and/or their relatives (Delgado and Nichols 2005;Senko et al 2011;Authors pers. obs.…”

Section: Cost-benefit Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Are they really endangered?-F8 Senko et al (2011) reported a similar disbelief by fishers that sea turtles in BCS were actually endangered and suggested that more focused education efforts are needed so that fishers understand why sea turtle populations at foraging areas are especially vulnerable to even small-scale fishing pressures. Both fishers who doubted sea turtles were endangered also mentioned family tradition as a reason for continuing poaching.…”

Section: -F1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To address these declines, the Mexican government banned the harvest of sea turtle eggs in 1978 and 2 years later issued a quota limiting the number of sea turtles that could be taken commercially (DOF 1990). However, populations continued to drop and in the face of increasing international pressures the government declared a complete ban on the use of sea turtles throughout Mexico in 1990 (DOF 1990;Garcia-Martínez and Nichols 2000;Senko et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite this ban, as well as over three decades of widespread protection on mainland nesting beaches and improvements in infrastructure and market conditions that provide easier access to other more reliable and less risky protein sources (e.g., see Senko et al 2009), fishers in BCS continue to illegally harvest sea turtles in large numbers (Gardner and Nichols 2001;Nichols 2003;Koch et al 2006Koch et al , 2007Peckham et al 2008;Mancini and Koch 2009;Senko et al 2011). Over the past decade, sea turtle harvest along the Baja California peninsula and Sonoran coast was estimated to be as high as 35,000 a year −1 (Nichols 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A single poacher from one BCS coastal lagoon admitted to hunting and selling more than 100 metric tons (5,000 turtles or approximately 625 turtles year −1 ) of endangered East Pacific green turtle (Chelonia mydas) over an 8-year period during the 1990s (Nichols and Safina 2004). In addition, the highest ranking government representatives publicly consume sea turtles, the meat is regarded as a symbol of power among people with authority, and the illegal sea turtle trade is sometimes tied to Mexican drug trafficking (Mancini and Koch 2009;Senko et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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To Poach or Not to Poach an Endangered Species: Elucidating the Economic and Social Drivers Behind Illegal Sea Turtle Hunting in Baja California Sur, Mexico

et al. 2011

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Despite complete legal protection, improvements in infrastructure, and market conditions that provide easier access to other protein sources, illegal poaching of sea turtles for consumption in Baja California Sur (BCS), Mexico remains a major threat to their recovery. Few studies have focused on understanding the economic and social drivers behind this activity, which is fundamental to determining best practices for discouraging it. From June 2007 to April 2008 we conducted eight in-depth, semi-structured interviews with sea turtle poachers at five coastal communities in BCS to determine the drivers influencing them. The most prevalent reasons for illegal poaching were direct economic benefits, lack of law enforcement and ease of escape from or bribery of authorities, and strong family tradition. Our results suggest that to reduce illegal poaching it will be necessary to better enforce existing environmental laws, reduce social acceptance of sea turtle hunting throughout the region, educate fishers on the ecological importance of sea turtles, and show fishers direct economic benefits from non-consumptive use of sea turtles, such as ecotourism.

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Section: Cost-benefit Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: -F1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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To Poach or Not to Poach an Endangered Species: Elucidating the Economic and Social Drivers Behind Illegal Sea Turtle Hunting in Baja California Sur, Mexico

et al. 2011

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Incidental capture of leatherback sea turtles in fixed fishing gear off Atlantic Canada

Hamelin¹,

James

Ledwell³

et al. 2017

Aquatic Conservation

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1. Incidental capture in commercial fishing gear is a threat to many populations of marine megafauna, including sea turtles. While research has largely focused on pelagic longline impacts on sea turtles, fixed-gear fisheries are a significant, historically understudied source of injury and mortality.2. The present study assesses the interaction of endangered leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) with fixed-gear fisheries in high-latitude seasonal foraging habitat where sub-adult and adult turtles aggregate.3. Records of leatherback-fishery interactions (n = 205) were compiled from databases of publicly-reported sea turtle sightings in Atlantic Canada (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) to identify the spatiotemporal distribution of these events; to identify corresponding fisheries and gear types; and to describe the mechanics and outcomes of entanglements in fixed gear. 4. Most reports came from coastal Nova Scotia (n = 136) and Newfoundland (n = 40), with reporting rates peaking in the mid-to-late 2000s. The majority of entanglements were reported during the summer months of July and August when leatherbacks are seasonally resident and several fisheries are active in continental shelf waters.5. Entanglements were most commonly reported in pot gear (e.g. snow crab, lobster, whelk) and trap nets (e.g. mackerel), reflecting extensive use of polypropylene lines distributed in the upper water column where leatherback foraging activity is concentrated. 6. Given reporting biases and uncertainty regarding post-release survivorship, entanglement mortalities should be considered a gross underestimate of true mortality rates.7. This study highlights both the importance of looking beyond pelagic longlines to evaluate leatherback interactions with fixed-gear fisheries in high-use continental shelf foraging habitat, and of involving the fishing industry in developing mitigation measures to reduce entanglement rates and associated turtle mortality.

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Practitioner approaches to trade‐off decision‐making in marine conservation development

Fortnam,

Chaigneau,

Evans

et al. 2023

People and Nature

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Mounting evidence suggests that win‐wins are elusive and trade‐offs are the norm in marine conservation development practice. The status quo involves trade‐offs, and any change brought to ecosystems, economies and societies will alter the distribution of costs and benefits, creating other winners and losers among ecosystem services, sectors and people. While studies are increasingly acknowledging the prevalence of trade‐offs, this article analyses how practitioners working for conservation development agencies consider, facilitate and make trade‐off decisions a priori and post hoc when designing and implementing marine conservation development programmes in Southeast Asia. We find that these practitioners recognize both substantive trade‐offs, which are diverse social and ecological trade‐offs resulting from their programmes, and process trade‐offs, related to how they design programmes, including between their prioritization of different locations; between strategic relationships; and between the efficacy, equity and sustainability of projects. Existing decision support tools only capture a limited range of substantive (mainly ecological) trade‐offs, however, and are not widely used. Typically, social trade‐offs are not systematically assessed. Instead, they are implicitly identified by participants and beneficiaries voicing their concerns during consultation processes. Importantly, whether a trade‐off is then deemed acceptable is not determined through transparent assessment of trade‐offs and principles of equity or justice but by the uneven political power of stakeholders to project their values in decision‐making processes. The article concludes that practitioners should facilitate inclusive, transparent and systematic identification and deliberation of the social acceptability of multidimensional trade‐offs, and formulate response options to avoid or minimize adverse consequences. Tackling trade‐offs in this way has the potential to make invisible trade‐offs visible and improve the sustainability and legitimacy of marine conservation development programmes while promoting the interests of the most marginalized in efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

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People helping turtles, turtles helping people: Understanding resident attitudes towards sea turtle conservation and opportunities for enhanced community participation in Bahia Magdalena, Mexico

Cited by 51 publications

References 23 publications

To Poach or Not to Poach an Endangered Species: Elucidating the Economic and Social Drivers Behind Illegal Sea Turtle Hunting in Baja California Sur, Mexico

To Poach or Not to Poach an Endangered Species: Elucidating the Economic and Social Drivers Behind Illegal Sea Turtle Hunting in Baja California Sur, Mexico

Incidental capture of leatherback sea turtles in fixed fishing gear off Atlantic Canada

Practitioner approaches to trade‐off decision‐making in marine conservation development

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