Fisheries Conference

Saving the Blue team members Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Khrys Carroll recently attended the 76th Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute conference in Nassau, Bahamas. The theme of the conference was sustainable fisheries and they presented our work on “Fisher perceptions of shark management and shark-depredation events in the Bahamas”.

Snippet from our abstract: The Bahamas is a premier shark diving destination and has been a global leader in shark conservation due to progressive management efforts. However, community support for sharks is eroding with fisher's anecdotally reporting increased depredation (sharks taking or damaging their catch), fear of personal safety, and a desire to harvest sharks for food/economic benefit. There is an urgent need to understand fishers’ perception of sharks and the shark sanctuary, in addition to shark-fisher interactions, to protect the welfare of fishers while promoting sustainable, long-term shark conservation. Here we conducted in-person interviews with 375 fishers (recreational, commercial, and subsistence) in the Bahamas to understand their i) experiences with sharks, ii) perceptions and attitudes towards sharks, and iii) opinions of shark management. Results will inform strategies to mitigate shark-fisher interactions; improve dialogue between fishers, researchers and other stakeholders; and identify areas for collaborative research, including depredation reduction methods and continued conservation of sharks. This work will be published shortly.

Special thanks must go to The Dashlight Foundation, Storm Story and the Lackland Foundation for supporting this incredibly important project. Thank you all for trusting and believing in our work.