Lots going on in the IOSEA community this
past month:
The
Western Indian Ocean – Marine Turtle
Task Force (WIO-MTTF), under the chairmanship
of Dr Ronel Nel, has just concluded a
week-long e-conference, which solicited
inputs from task force members on a wide
range of topics. The fruits of this innovative
approach to exchanging information within
the sub-region are currently being compiled.
There
has also been a flurry of correspondence
in recent weeks around the southwest Indian
Ocean, exploring the possibility of organising
one or more sea turtle-related workshops
in connection with the large WIOMSA gathering
taking place in Réunion, France,
in August 2009. Once he dust has settled,
we’ll inform you of the final plans.
For its part, the Secretariat has been
active on a number of different fronts
in recent weeks:
(1)
In collaboration with Advisory Committee
Chair, Dr. Jack Frazier, a proposal has
been developed and submitted to the United
States’ Marine Turtle Conservation
Fund, with the hope of securing US$ 50,000
for the establishment of an IOSEA Technical
Support and Capacity Building Programme.
The project would draw on expertise within
the IOSEA Advisory Committee, mainly to
respond to requests from Signatory States
for direct technical support and to undertake
other capacity-building initiatives.
(2)
A further upgrade of the IOSEA website
is about to begin. Some valuable new tools
will be developed, notably a searchable
metadatabase on satellite tracking projects
around the Indian Ocean and South-East
Asia region. This will offer the most
comprehensive overview ever of projects
that have tracked the migration of hundreds
of marine turtles around the region. Also,
to complement the ongoing WIO-MTTF information-gathering
project, an online bibliographic resource
is being developed for MTTF members. These
and other enhancements to the site should
come online over the next 6-8 weeks.
(3)
The Secretariat has been working with
Dr Mark Hamann to develop terms of reference
for a new project to get the region-wide
IOSEA assessment of loggerhead turtle
conservation status off the ground. This
will draw on information available in
the Online Reporting Facility, as well
as other information sources within and
outside the Advisory Committee. The project
will focus on countries with nesting and
foraging populations of loggerheads and
will also examine the potential impacts
of climate change.
As
this note is being written, the verdict
is still awaited on whether the Indian
Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), meeting
in Bali this week, will adopt a resolution
aimed at strengthening efforts to mitigate
sea turtle bycatch in tuna and tuna-like
fisheries, and improve the collection
of data in this area. The Secretariat
has been lobbying in the margins to include
provisions that would recognise IOSEA’s
interest and role in bycatch reduction
measures, and intensify the already good
collaboration with the IOTC Secretariat.
The outcomes will be summarized in an
upcoming feature article.
Finally,
further afield, and looking ahead to April,
Kenya will be organising a National Stakeholders
Workshop in Mombasa next week, from 6
to 8 April. The Secretariat has been invited
to participate.
|
Over
the past 5-6 years, many resolutions,
recommendations and decisions concerning
mitigation of turtle bycatch in fisheries
have emerged from various regional fisheries
management organisations, such as IATTC,
ICCAT, IOTC, NAFO and WCPFC. The Signatory
States to the IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU,
and the Inter-American Convention on Sea
Turtles have also adopted a number of
resolutions that cover this topic and
others. 
Circle
is a loggerhead turtle accidentally captured
in December 2007 and brought to Kélonia
with a hook in her throat. 
The
Secretariat is pleased to announce that
the Memorandum of Understanding officially
took effect on 1 March 2009 for France
and Mozambique - two key countries for
marine turtle conservation in the southwest
Indian Ocean. 
