Reef Rangers 4: Sustainable fishing

After a break through Ramazan, the Reef Rangers club is up and running once again.

In this activity the Reef Rangers worked as “Fisheries Scientists” interviewing some of the oldest fishermen in neighbouring island Maalhos to learn about how fishing has changed over the years.  Some of the fishermen that were interviewed were fishing as long back as the 1950s and have witnessed tremendous changes in the Baa Atoll fish stocks.  After the interviews were conducted, the Reef Rangers analysed the clear patterns in the fishermens answers.  The answers revealed huge pressures to the fish stocks, particularly tuna and grouper.  In the 1950s one fisherman used to catch 50kg tuna in one trip by pole and line (1 hook), and yet 20 years ago he was forced into changing to long line fishing (1000s of hooks) as it was becoming increasingly difficult to catch tuna. Despite using thousands of hooks, his catch only increased by a very small amount, indicating a fish stock under severe pressure.  By changing to this intensive fishing technique, we would expect his catch to increase by a huge amount, but this was not the case. Other trends were fishermen having to travel much further to find fish, and a general decrease in the size of fish caught, particularly grouper.    

The new Reef Rangers logo!

Analysing the fishermen's answers about how the
fishing has changed in Baa Atoll

The Reef Rangers Club with some of the
Maalhos fishermen

Reef surveying and capacity building in Maldives

 

Through the Six Senses Social and Environmental Responsibility Fund, Biosphere Expeditions certified Soneva Fushi hosts as Reef Check Eco Divers. Three more hosts won the opportunity to join the reef surveying expedition onboard luxury liveaboard the Carpe Diem, while two local scholarship winners from the government’s Marine Research Centre joined the expedition to build their capacity to survey reefs. Two local divemasters were also certified.

Through this SERF grant an educational children’s colouring book was also sponsored, which was handed over to the Ministry of Education. 2,500 copies have been printed and are soon to be distributed through Maldives schools.

Many sites were surveyed on the expedition providing the government with much needed data on reef health, as well as feeding into a global reef database.

Maldives host scholarships will be available every year for the next three years.

Opportunities will be advertised later in 2012.   



Recording whale shark ID!

The local scholarship winners from the
Marine Research Centre



The first Biosphere Expeditions team in Maldives!







Handing over the childrens book to the
Ministry of Education



Biosphere Expeditions offer two expedition places to Six Senses hosts

Biosphere Expeditions are offering Six Senses hosts the opportunity to join their Maldives expeditions to get trained in the Reef Check methodology on board luxurary live aboard the Carpe Diem. Two places will be offered anually from each Maldives property to build capacity for our hosts to assist with coral reef monitoring.

The first applicants for these scholarships were Mr. Fridays Shareef and Majid from Soneva Fushi who, after a large ammount of studying, are now certified as Reef Check Eco Divers and have completed many Reef Check surveys throughout South Male' Atoll and Ari Atoll as part of the Biosphere Expeditions team.

Home for the week - the Carpe Diem

Majid and Kate

The Soneva Fushi team!

Soneva Fushi certified as a Reef Check Centre

Founder of Biosphere Expeditions, Matthias Hammer, certified the first of Soneva Fushi’s hosts as Reef Check Eco Divers.

Reef Check is an international organization committed to the conservation of coral reef ecosystems and is the United Nations official coral reef monitoring program. Reef Check harnesses the enthusiasm of volunteer SCUBA divers and trains them to conduct simple reef surveys – data from these suveys is then submitted to a global database. Currently there are Reef Check teams in over 80 countries.  

Reef Check's goals are:

1. to educate the public about the value of reef ecosystems and the current crisis affecting marine life
2. to create a global network of volunteer teams trained in Reef Check's scientific methods who regularly monitor and report on reef health
3. to facilitate collaboration that produces ecologically sound and economically sustainable solutions
4. to stimulate local community action to protect remaining pristine reefs and rehabilitate damaged reefs worldwide

Kris and Shahir from Soneva Fushi’s watersports team were both certified as Reef Check Eco Divers, and Soneva Fushi’s marine biologist Kate Wilson was certified as a Reef Check trainer of Trainers enabling her to certify others as Reef Check Eco Divers.

Outdoor classroom

Demonstrating feet in the air positioning to
avoid damage to the reef whilst surveying

   



Shahir recording invertebrates



Kris recording the substrate

 

Shahir reeling in the transect tape



Large animals such as turtles are also recorded



Certified Reef Check Eco Divers! 

Ethical souvenirs

With a rapid rise of tourism in Maldives the islands have increased the production of unsustainable souvenirs from the ocean, including corals, sponges, sharks teeth, sea shells and black coral. There are numerous Maldivian handicrafts from coconut crafts, cior making, wood carving, woven mats and lacquerwork. Thuahaadhoo in Baa Atoll is famed for its lacquerwork handicrafts, or "liyelaa jehun" as it is called in Dhivehi so Soneva Fushi hosts went to check it out. 

The Maldivian craftsmen who practice "liyelaa jehun" create intricate designs on carved wooden objects such as vases and jewellery boxes. The craftsman sculpts the desired form out of a simple block of wood. The finished design is then coated, layer by layer, with lacquer of various colours, usually black, orange, green and yellow. For those pieces that are extra-special, the craftsman will sometimes even use gold and silver dust to give the finished product an additional level of exoticness. The finished piece is then polished with dry coconut leaves until it gleams. The end result is sleek, shiny and etched with fine intricate designs - a work of traditional Maldivian art.

Meeting the Island Councillor of Thuaadhoo

The lacquerwork workshop

In action

Wood carvings

The finished products

You can help support local communities and help to preserve this tradition through purchasing these unique 100% Maldivian lacquerworks which are sold in our shops.

Sharks in the Maldives

Sharks: key species in a vast ocean

Sharks are vital in maintaining marine biodiversity, as they are the top predators in ocean food chains. The removal of sharks is affecting marine ecosystems and the abundance of fish species, having cascading effects throughout the entire oceanic food web. Sharks also remove unhealthy and weak individuals from large schools of prey, leaving much stronger and healthier populations that are able to adapt and withstand other pressures. Sharks are key species in a vast ocean.  

  

Shark fin soup: a global pressure

Globally, over 100 million sharks are killed annually, often as by-catch, but primarily for shark fin soup trade, which is at an all-time high. As affluence grows in Asia, so does the market for such a luxury item. One recent study estimated that fins from between 26 and 73 million sharks are traded globally each year. Shark species have slow growth, late maturity and low fecundity resulting in wide generation gaps and low regeneration rates in the population. These factors render sharks extremely vulnerable to over-exploitation, with population declines of over 99% recorded for several species in certain oceans. 

A very cruel method is used to collect shark fins. The shark is hauled up on deck, its fins sliced off, and the animal, often still alive, is thrown back into the sea to where it sinks to the bottom and drowns.

Huge floating factories from foreign countries are known to anchor outside territorial waters, encouraging local fishermen to supply them with shark fins, which retail at up to $1,000 per kilo. If we continue to kill these animals at this current rate, they will be extinct within just a few decades. 

 

Sharks in Maldives

Mohamad Zahir, co-founder of Ecocare, reports how the demand for shark products has developed to a point where the Maldivian shark populations are becoming endangered: “We Maldivians face a great dilemma. The shark populations in the seas surrounding the Maldives are decreasing. There is a reason for this. Although, justly renowned for its tuna fishery, Maldives has also had a minor shark fishery for centuries. Our forefathers had a traditional shark fishery known as “Maa Keyolhu kan” using a huge locally-made hook, to target certain sharks species known to have enormous livers from which oil extracts were used to maintain the wooden hulls of dhonies.”

This ancient use of sharks began to change in the early 1960’s, with the introduction of Japanese long lining. Even then, shark fishing was very much a part-time activity. In more recent years, due to the mechanical methods of fishing, expansion of the export market for shark products and the increased number of tourists, shark fishing became a full time activity for some fishermen which has significantly depleted the shark populations.

 

The Six Senses Shark Campaign

Eva Shivdasani, co-founder of Soneva Fushi, has tirelessly campaigned against the tragic loss of sharks due to the unjustifiable cruelty of shark fishing in which sharks are butchered simply for their fins. Eva has actively driven campaigns to get many restaurants around the world to stop serving shark fin soup and played a big part in getting the Maldivian governments both old and new to agree to ban shark fishing.

Soneva Fushi and Soneva Gili have supported the drive to save the sharks for many years, and boycott any supplier or shop that sells shark items. Together with local activists, nearby resorts and inter-national conservation groups, Soneva Fushi has been working to get a nationwide ban on shark fishing imposed. The resort sent out emails and letters to nearly 90 tourist resorts, 70 dive centres, approx. 300 travel agents in the Maldives and tour operators worldwide, hoping to get their support for the campaign. It also developed informative leaflets, funded a TV campaign and initiated discussions with local authorities to highlight the detrimental effects of shark-fishing to marine ecosystems and the tourism and fishing industries.

 

Progress
A fund to help shark fishermen find alternative livlihoods was launched by the Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture on World Oceans Day, June 8th 2010, funded in part by the World Wide Fund for Nature and resorts in Maldives. The funds raised through the Shark Fund were spent on training opportunities for fishermen, aricultural projects, buying back of shark fishing gear and on promoting alternative livelihoods for shark fishermen. The regulation that came into effect on July 1st, 2010 imposed a complete ban on fishing for any species of sharks within twelve miles from the atoll rim of all atolls of the Maldives. 

Juvenile sharks return to Soneva Fushi’s lagoon

For the first time since 2007, juvenile black tip reef sharks are being found in abundance in our house reef. This is fantastic news for the shark populations of Baa Atoll. Lets hope these sightings continue.

How you can help

Refuse to buy souvenirs made of sharkskin, cartilage or teeth and avoid restaurants that serve shark fin soup. If we stop buying products made from sharks, then fishermen around the world will be encouraged to stop the shark trade.

 

Six Senses and Biosphere Expeditions launch reef educational booklet for Maldivian children

Six Senses Maldives properties have sponsored renowned international conservation organisation Biosphere Expeditions to produce a reef educational book for children in the Maldives.


The book has been designed to inspire the younger generation on the wealth of marine life of Maldivian reefs. It explains how climate change and various other impacts are putting increasing pressure on these ecosystems –the aim is to inspire children to look after their reefs and understand a bit more about marine protected areas and how each and every one of us can reduce our impact.


“The Adventures of Anees the Anemonefish” was produced by the Land and Marine Environmental Resources (LaMer) Group, Biosphere Expeditions, Marine Conservation Society (MCS) and Soneva Fushi by Six Senses to increase awareness of threats to our coral reefs in children throughout the Maldives.

The Adventures of Anees the Anemonefish will be launched on 3 September in Male’ where 2000 copies will be handed over to the Ministry of Education.

For a full story, please see the Visit Maldives website: http://www.visitmaldives.com/en/environment-friendly-tourism/biosphere-expeditions

To download a full copy of the book please visit:

 http://www.biosphere-expeditions.org/images/stories/pdfs/education/Maldives%20educational%20booklet.pdf

Why Soneva Fushi has taken grouper off the menu

The Maldives grouper fishery is declining, and along with it, the livelihoods of local fishermen. Approximately 7100 million tonnes of reef fish are purchased annually by resorts alone –three times the estimated amount being purchased in the late 80s, and groupers specifically are also targets of a fishery that supplies East Asian markets. Groupers are long lived, some living to 100 years old. It takes many years for grouper to become reproductively active. At present, groupers are being taken off the reef before they have had chance to reproduce which is leading to dramatic declines in the grouper population of the Maldives. Surveys conducted between 2002-2004 found 43% of total grouper catch to be below maturity length. In other words, 43% of the Maldives catch had not had chance to reproduce to replenish the population.  It is highly unsustainable to fish grouper, and as such, Soneva Fushi has taken grouper off the menu. 

 

Surveys conducted in Maldives between 2002-2004 found
43% of total grouper catch to be below maturity length.

Why Six Senses do not target billfish

Billfish, sailfish, spearfish, marlin… what’s the difference?

Marlin, sailfish and spearfish are all billfish, and their populations are being decimated by overfishing.

 The Lions and Tigers of the Sea

Unfortunately, although marlin and other billfish are among the biggest and fastest fish in the sea - top predators with little to fear from other predators - they are also among the most threatened. Overfishing has reduced their numbers to only a fraction of what they were just decades ago. And by removing so many predators from the top of the ocean food chain, we are putting entire ecosystems – and the vast diversity of life they support – at risk. 

Marlin, sailfish and other big ocean predators play a crucial role in the sea’s ecology. Like lions and tigers on land, they are apex predators, helping to maintain a healthy balance in marine ecosystems by promoting stability, structure and predictability.

Ironically, top predators are in ways more vulnerable than their prey in that they are generally longer-lived, reach reproductive maturity at a later age, and take longer to recover from overfishing. When predators disappear, the effects cascade down throughout the food web, disrupting entire communities of life.

Photo by John Schwartz

Take Marlin off the Menu Campaign

Six Senses are passionate about sustainable fishing -many overfished species such as billfish have not been served on our menus for many years.  In line with Six Senses policies, the Six Senses group has taken a pledge to “Take Marlin Off the Menu” as a reminder of the significance of the declining billfish in our oceans.

Soneva Fushi is encouraging resorts in Maldives to follow suit by signing the pledge to Take Marlin Off the Menu, as well as to stop targeting billfish during guest fishing excursions.

The billfish situation in the world’s oceans 

In the Atlantic Ocean…

Blue marlin and white marlin are overfished and overfishing is still continuing. Attempts to do quantitative assessments on sailfish have not been successful due to lack of accurate catch and effort data from all harvesters, but trends in catch-per-unit-effort – an indicator of stock abundance – have fallen consistently since the 1970s.

In the Pacific Ocean…

Black marlin: There has never been an assessment of the status of black marlin but landings trends over the past thirty years have been generally declining. There have been contradictory results in recent assessments of Pacific blue marlin status.  Some assessments show the stock to be fully exploited.  In contrast research done in 2002 to develop a broad-based estimate of pelagic ecosystem species shows that blue marlin had declined the most in abundance of any of these tuna-like species being at only 21% of their pre-1960 abundance. No conservation measures are in place for either blue marlin or black marlin on the Pacific high seas. There has been no effort to assess the status of sailfish or spearfish species in the Pacific, however recent catch-per-unit-effort data from the recreational fishery off of Central America has generated cause for concern.

In the Indian Ocean…

The Indian Ocean high seas fisheries are the responsibility of the Indian Ocean tuna commission (IOTC). The Indian Ocean is home to blue marlin, black marlin, striped marlin and sailfish. Although fishing pressure on tunas has increased dramatically in recent years and tuna catches have dropped precipitously over the last two years, there is no assessment and little useable data available to determine the health of marlin populations. The IOTC cannot advise on the status of these billfish species and no conservation measures are in place.

The overfishing of Indian Ocean Billfish in the 90’s has
lead to an alarming decline in catches of billfish.
Data taken from the Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission Database (1959-2008).

As a leading eco resort,

Soneva Fushi does not target billfish.

For more information on billfish, please visit:

http://www.takemarlinoffthemenu.org

Reef Rangers 3: Amazing Mantas!

The third of twelve activities with the Reef Rangers Club was held yesterday, this time the children learned everything there is to know about manta rays from their feeding and social behavious, to their migration patterns and the threats these animals face.

The activity began with a presention to the 10 high school students in the boat followed by an hour or so of searching for manta rays to give the students a change to swim with these amazing rays.

Great thanks goes to the Maldivian Manta Ray Project for assisting with the search for the mantas and eventually leading us to three mantas giving the students an amazing opportunity to swim with these incredible creatures.

Welcoming the Reef Rangers onboard...

Introducing the days activity...

Manta rays are HUGE!

Teaching about the biology and behaviours of manta rays as
well as some of the threats they face...

With thanks to the Maldivian Manta Ray Research Project
the Reef Rangers finally get to swim with the mantas 

For more information on Manta Rays in the Maldives, visit:

www.maldivianmantas.com

Reef Rangers 2: Marine Protected Areas

In the second week of the Reef Rangers club the 10 high school students from Maalhos learned first hand about Marine Protected Areas. The students were taken snorkelling at the beautiful Angafaru MPA in Baa Atoll where they took note of the huge diversity of corals, high coral cover, large numbers of fish, and the large sizes of individual fish such as grouper. The students were then taken to an impacted reef with very little live coral, high ammounts of sedimentation and very few fish. Back on board the boat the students discussed the differences between the two sites, the reasons why the reef can become so degraded and what each and every one of us can do to help.



On the approach to Angafaru
Marine Protected Area

Reef Rangers gearing up...



Ready to jump...



Discussion about Marine Protected Areas



The Reef Rangers Club!

 

Baa Atoll declared as UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

In recognition of the outstanding natural values of Baa Atoll, and commitments made by local communities and resorts, UNESCO  (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation ) has designated Baa Atoll as a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve. 

UNESCO coordinates a world network of 580 Biosphere Reserves in 114 countries. These are sites recognized under UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere Programme, which innovate and demonstrate approaches to conservation and sustainable development. They include famous sites such as Ayer’s Rock in Australia, the Galapagos Islands, the Pantanal wetlands of Brazil, the Niagara escarpment, the Sundarbans of India, the Amboseli National Park of Kenya, Komodo in Indonesia and now, Baa Atoll in the Maldives.

Biosphere Reserves have three key functions: conservation, learning and research, and sustainable development.  They are vehicles for knowledge sharing, research and monitoring, education and training, and participatory decision-making. 

Although Biosphere Reserves are under national sovereign jurisdiction, ideas and experiences are shared regionally and internationally.  They are ‘living laboratories’ for testing and demonstrating sustainable development.  They are about the future, and how local people can conserve the things they value –local knowledge, culture and the environment – whilst ensuring sustainable development.  

In other words, the designation is about encouraging and facilitating people to work together, to live in and manage the whole area for a sustainable future

Why Baa Atoll?

Baa Atoll, harbours globally significant biodiversity in its numerous reefs and demonstrates a long history of human interaction with the environment.

Baa Atoll harbours globally significant biodiversity. In addition to its species rich reefs, Baa Atoll has significant concentrations of whale sharks, manta rays and marine turtles, and also a unique diversity of benthic fauna, including rare pink hydrozoans corals (Distichopora nitida), Bryozoans (Bugula) and sea slugs (Tambja olivaria) that are only recorded from Baa atoll.

In addition, Baa Atoll has a particularly high density of the ring-shaped reef forms called faroes, a peculiar reef structure unique to the Maldives, as well as other unique reef forms. Baa Atoll also has one of the largest areas of mangroves in the central part of the Maldivian atoll chain, and one of only two roosting sites in the Maldives for the frigate bird (more than 10,000 individuals).

Faro's -circular reefs unique to Maldives

Baa Atoll houses one of two roosting sites in Maldives
for frigate birds

Approximately 12,000 people reside in Baa Atoll, distributed across 13 islands, and 6 resorts islands. The remaining 57 islands are uninhabited.  The most important human activities in the area are tourism and fisheries. Whilst resorts have become the main economic driver, tuna and reef fishing remains an important activity. Production of handicrafts and other materials for the tourist industry is also significant.