Recommendations for Sustainable Cetacean-Based Tourism in French Territories: A Review on the Industry and Current Management Actions

Abstract

Whale-watching activities provide important socio-economic benefits for local communities and constitute powerful platforms incentive for marine mammals protection or more broadly marine environments. However, these activities can cause adverse effects on targeted populations, with considerable downside associated risks of injuries and fatality for whale-watchers during in-water interactions. France with its overseas territories has the second largest exclusive economic zone, in which more than half of existing cetacean species are encountered. In these territories, recreational and commercial whale-watching, including swim-with cetacean activities, have recently developed. Yet, few studies focused on these activities and their associated impacts across French territories, leading to an unclear assessment of the situation. To address this issue, we reviewed cetaceans occurrence within the French EEZ, whale-watching industry, targeted species, local management of marine mammal-based tourism activities and regulations in France Mainland and some overseas territories (Reunion Island, Mayotte and French Polynesia). Forty eight species are encountered in the French EEZ, and 15 are targeted by whale-watching activities. A total of 185 operators, including 34% offering swim-with cetaceans tours, offered trips in France and overseas in 2019. While several more or less restrictive regulations exist locally, our results indicate that French’s national legal framework for marine mammals protection remains inadequate and insufficient to cope with the recent development of this activity. As conservation biologists, managers and stakeholders from these French territories, we cooperated to provide general guidelines for a sustainable development of whale-watching at national scale. We urge (1) to legally acknowledge and regulate whale-watching commercial activities; (2) to create a national legal framework regarding whale-watching and swim-with marine mammals practices, while accounting for local distinctiveness and disparities across regions; (3) to conduct more research to evaluate local short and long-term impacts on targeted marine mammals populations as well as the socio-economic benefits ; 4) to reinforce synergetic relations between the different stakeholders.

Dolphin Watching and Compliance to Guidelines Affect Spinner Dolphins’ (Stenella longirostris) Behaviour in Reunion Island

“…Finally, the particularity of the whale- and dolphin-watching activity in Reunion Island is that approximately half of the vessels are for recreational uses (e.g., rented [ 31 , 46 ]). Encouraging education and awareness-raising campaigns is essential to inform the local communities and tour operators about the impacts of the activity, the best practices and the changes in the regulations [ 9 , 21 , 46 , 56 , 81 ].…”

“…The cumulative short-term negative effects caused by repeated interactions with anthropogenic activities may also lead to a total avoidance of certain areas [ 10 , 15 , 28 , 29 ]. During the last decade, cetacean watching has greatly developed in Reunion Island, a French oversea territory in the south-western Indian Ocean [ 30 , 31 ]. Dolphin watching was historically the first cetacean-watching activity regularly practised on the island [ 30 ].…”

“…The particular ecology of spinner dolphins, with predictable daily migrations across spatially limited areas, facilitates dolphin-watching vessels to observe them [ 25 , 26 , 37 , 39 , 40 , 41 ]. Due to the easiness of encounters, especially in the morning, the population of spinner dolphins is the most consistent main target of the cetacean-watching activities in Reunion Island [ 31 ]. The vulnerability of this population [ 35 ] calls for a deeper insight into this increasing trend in human–animal interactions.…”

Replacing artisanal fisheries with dolphin watching: Strategy for conservation and sustainable community‐based marine ecotourism

“…In a variety of marine ecotourism ventures, watching cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in their habitats has been rapidly developing worldwide in the past decades (Chazot et al, 2020; Cisneros‐Montemayor et al, 2010; Cisneros‐Montemayor et al, 2013; Cunningham et al, 2012; Higham et al, 2016) and becomes one highly popular and profitable ecotourism industry (Chazot et al, 2020; Cisneros‐Montemayor et al, 2010; Cisneros‐Montemayor et al, 2013; Cook et al, 2020; Mustika et al, 2012; Parsons et al, 2003; Schwoerer et al, 2016). In cetacean conservation, dolphin watching (DW) are frequently proposed to artisanal fishers as a CBME plan to reduce local fishing effort and hence trammel/gill‐net bycatch on cetaceans (D'Agrosa, Lennert‐Cody & Vidal, 2000; Cusack et al, 2021; Wu et al, 2022), instead of replacing destructive fishing methods with eco‐friendly ones that still harvest marine biological resources (Aburto‐Oropeza et al, 2018).…”