Science to Power Conservation & Sustainable Use

In 2020, the world’s largest reef shark survey revealed that these ecologically important animalsare depleted in many places around the globe. This year, Mote Marine Laboratory scientists launched a new, international effort to do something about it.

Dr. Demian Chapman took on the leadership of Mote Marine Laboratory’s Center for Shark Research this year after leading the world’s largest reef shark survey, Global FinPrint, at Florida International University. The FinPrint team placed baited, remote, underwater video cameras on more than 400 reefs in 58 nations, hoping for glimpses of sharks. Sadly, the cameras often revealed their absence—sharks were functionally extinct in many survey locations and NO sharks were seen in 20% of sites. 

The project resulted in most species of reef sharks being listed as threatened with extinction by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species—and it set the stage for a new, high-impact initiative at Mote. 

Mote has been renowned for its shark research for 66 years—ever since the famous “Shark Lady,” Dr. Eugenie Clark, founded the Lab to study these unique fishes in 1955. Back then, scientists knew less about why sharks mattered, but thanks to a succession of Mote shark scientists over the years and the global shark research community, we now understand that sharks are too important to lose. They serve as predators that regulate prey species and help maintain healthy ecosystems. In addition, sustainable shark fishing and ecotourism are critical to many economies and livelihoods. 

Respecting the relationship between people and sharks will be central to sharks’ recovery. Global FinPrint showed that reef sharks were doing well in places where people invested in management efforts that were culturally and socio-economically suited to the local community—illustrating the importance of people power for shark conservation.

In many parts of the world, national shark fishing bans, fishing regulations, no-take marine protected areas and other approaches are being used successfully to prevent reef shark extinctions. No single solution will work for every case, and each nation may have both areas of success and challenge. For instance, Mote scientists contributed to Global FinPrint in Cuba, where reef shark populations range from overexploited in some areas to healthy in marine refuges like Jardines de la Reina (Gardens of the Queen).

• This year, Mote launched the exciting new project Expanding the Global FinPrint—which is working to turn the lessons of FinPrint into conservation successes for sharks and their cousins, rays. Specifically, Mote is partnering with local grassroots organizations, governments and fisherfolk for research and conservation in countries where there is high conservation potential for reef sharks and rays. Funding and scientific support are being directed to these groups so that they can implement management approaches that are likely to work both for the animals and people.
• One success is already unfolding in Belize—an example of what Mote’s project aims to achieve in many nations. This year, the Government of Belize announced new regulations prohibiting shark fishing within 2 nautical miles of Lighthouse Reef, Glover’s Reef and Turneffe atolls—a total area of about 1,500 square miles. These measures stem from recommendations of Belize's National Shark Working Group composed of government, shark fisherfolk, non-government organizations and researchers, including Chapman at Mote. The scientific data behind these recommendations included Global FinPrint results.
• Now in Belize, a new initiative of its National Shark Working Group is combining fishers’ knowledge of how and where to catch sharks with Mote’s experience tracking sharks’ movement with electronic tags. Results will inform management decisions by Belize’s Fisheries Department. Generous support for this program comes from Mote philanthropist Greg Manocherian, along with The Ellen Fund—Ellen DeGeneres’ conservation foundation as part of their new Endangered Campaign. Additional funding comes from the Mays Family Foundation, Earthwatch International and Betsy and Peter Snow, with the Georgia Aquarium supplying tags.
  • The team has already fitted five sharks in Belize—two tiger sharks and three silky sharks—with satellite tracking tags. Interestingly, one of the silky sharks crossed into Mexican waters after being tagged at Lighthouse Reef, which highlights how some sharks require cooperative management between Belize and other nations.
  • In 2022, Mote and partners in Expanding the Global FinPrint will extend their shark and ray conservation model to other locations in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean regions, where Global FinPrint collaborators are based.

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• This year, Mote scientists co-authored the first multiyear, peer-reviewed research paper on the large-scale movements of whitespotted eagle rays in U.S. waters. Whitespotted eagle rays are protected in multiple U.S. states but fished in some countries such as Cuba and Mexico. It is important to understand their movements to confirm where they spend their time and what risks they face. The new study, “Variable migration patterns of whitespotted eagle rays Aetobatus narinari along Florida’s coastlines,” published in Marine Biology, provides critical information for management and conservation. 
   
  • Over three years, project partners tagged 52 whitespotted eagle rays (30 on Florida’s Gulf Coast and 22 on Florida’s Atlantic Coast) with acoustic tags that could be detected by a network of receivers in the environment. On the Gulf Coast, 248 acoustic receivers detected tagged rays 221,296 times total. On the Atlantic coast, 258 receivers detected tagged rays 368,991 times total. 
     
  • Our results strengthened evidence that whitespotted eagle rays migrate along Florida’s Gulf Coast, seemingly moving south when northern habitats cool. With fewer rays detected in winter, the study hints, but doesn’t directly confirm, that some rays may have traveled further south to Cuba and Mexico or traveled offshore—all places with fewer acoustic receivers than Florida’s coastal waters. Unlike the Gulf Coast, south Florida’s Atlantic Coast appears to host resident rays year ‘round—and habitats such as the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) are likely crucial for sustaining local populations. The IRL and other coastal habitats around the state are declining, leaving the rays more vulnerable to altered freshwater flow, pollution, harmful algal blooms, and other disturbances. Young rays in particular seemed to prefer the IRL, hinting at the need for further research to determine if the IRL is a “nursery” where the rays are born and/or sheltered during early life.
     
• A Mote scientist involved in that study also co-authored an assessment report this year designating whitespotted eagle rays as “endangered” on the IUCN Red List because they are fished, caught unintentionally as bycatch, and their range has contracted.
   
• Mote scientists helped collect audio recordings of whitespotted eagle rays munching on 434 mollusk prey, as co-authors of the first peer-reviewed research effort to count and classify shell-crushing behavior using sound. Many kinds of marine animals crush and eat hard-shelled prey, but it’s challenging to document their behavior—and its influence on economically and ecologically important shellfish—especially for fast-moving animals that leave little trace of their prey behind. This new study, published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology and led by a Florida Atlantic University scientist, revealed the potential of this non-invasive technique. For example, by analyzing sounds, the researchers could tell if the rays were eating hard clams vs. banded tulip snails (the two prey they ate most). Project results also suggested that these sounds should be detectable above background noise in coastal lagoons.