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Fisheries Research 84 (2007) 1–3

Foreword

International collaboration in science, conservation and sustainable tourism of whale sharks夽

The papers in this special issue of Fisheries Research are based upon presentations made at the First International Whale Shark Conference (IWSC) held in Perth, Western Australia on 9–12 May 2005. The conference and associated workshops were held to facilitate international collaboration in whale shark conservation, research and sustainable tourism and was attended by delegates representing 23 countries and many fields of expertise. The impetus for the conference arose when the Western Australian Government released a Draft Management Plan for the Ningaloo Marine Park in July 2004 and announced funding for a comprehensive program of marine research to help underpin sustainable management of the Ningaloo region. Given the importance of managing an ecotourism industry based around the annual visitation of whale sharks to Ningaloo and the highly migratory behaviour of these animals, it was recognised that management and conservation in local jurisdictions could not occur effectively unless undertaken in an international context. Hence, holding the First International Whale Shark Conference became an important imperative. A wide range of participants was invited including a number of leading scientists, representatives of conservation organisations, government, natural resource use managers, tourism experts and members of the ecotourism industry. In this way, the conference brought together both scientific and management interests for collaborative efforts to increase understanding and conservation of the world’s largest fish. Basic distribution and behaviour data are still being collected for this species, and such information is necessary to form the basis of management and conservation plans. Additionally, members of the ecotourism industry were able to provide their personal experience to aid both scientists and managers alike and themselves gained from better appreciation of the science behind the animal that forms the basis of their business. The conference marked the beginning of international collaboration for this species, which is critically important due to the whale shark’s highly migratory nature, continued uncertainty over levels of harvesting and reports of unfavourable

夽 Proceedings of the First International Whale Shark Conference, Perth, Western Australia, 9–12 May 2005.

trends in whale shark size and abundance in some countries. The protection status and potential exploitation of this iconic species by fishing or ecotourism varied greatly between the countries represented at the IWSC. Conference delegates reported on whale sharks occurring in or regular visitors to the following countries: Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Brazil, Cuba, Djibouti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mexico, Mozambique, Philippines, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania and Thailand. Worldwide at least 11 countries have effective protection of whale sharks in their national waters and some, such as Australia, are considered international leaders in shark conservation. Countries with relatively recent prohibition of whale shark fishery were represented by conference delegates, the protection of whale sharks was implemented in Philippines in 1998 (Quiros, paper presented here; Pine et al., this paper will be made available in a supplementary proceedings publication), Thailand in 2000 (Surasak Thongsukdee of Marine and Coastal Resources Research Centre, Bangkok), India in 2001 (Dhiresh Joshi, this paper will be in available in the supplementary publication) and Belize in 2003 (Graham and Roberts, paper presented here). Some of these countries have established viable ecotourism industries, others are now recognising that this form of exploitation also requires diligent management as part of an effective conservation strategy, and some struggle with continued illegal fishing. The conference was also attended by delegates from countries where whale shark fishery is legal, such as Bangladesh (discussed in a presentation by Mohammad Zahirul Islam of Marinelife Alliance). Volker Bassen and Wairimu Njonjo, of the East African Whale Shark Trust, presented papers regarding Kenya, where although the threat is estimated to be low, there is an unchecked whale shark fishing industry; these papers will be in published in the supplementary proceedings publication. Finally, Taiwan enforces a quota system restricting the whale shark fishery (Hsu, paper presented here). The varying degrees in whale shark utilisation provided delegates not only with interesting accounts from a range of perspectives different to their own but also offered an opportunity to learn alternative strategies. Regions where ecotourism is in early stages of development, or yet to be employed, gained

0165-7836/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2006.11.007

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Foreword / Fisheries Research 84 (2007) 1–3

understanding of the industry from areas where effective codes of conduct have been successfully established. Furthermore, the First International Whale Shark Conference established collaboration between scientists undertaking similar research in separate areas of the world. The 48 presentations made by delegates were divided into 5 themes; science, conservation, ecotourism, socioeconomics and management. The papers which comprise this volume form a subset of those presentations. Due to the high degree of subject linkage between several of these themes, the papers accepted for this special issue have been divided into two parts; Part I Science and Part II Conservation & Management. A further 10 papers of more informal nature will be published by CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research in a forthcoming supplementary proceedings report. The Science section of this special issue begins with a general review of published literature by Stevens, this is followed by Martin, who drew on personal experience to provide a review of whale shark behavioural ecology. Several papers are presented that utilised satellite tracking to examine whale shark movements in various parts of the world: Gifford et al. discuss observations in South Africa and Honduras, Hsu et al. in the north-western Pacific, and Rowat and Gore in Seychelles. Cliff et al. describes whale shark distribution and abundance in southern Africa as assessed by aerial surveys. Nelson and Eckert present the first study of foraging activity and analysis of prey abundance and composition in the Gulf of California, concluding that the type of foraging behaviour is determined by plankton density. Feeding behaviour is further explored by Taylor’s paper, which is the first report of nocturnal feeding in whale sharks. Graham and Roberts detail the population size and structure of whale sharks in Belize, accompanied with details of tagging and photo identification. In a different part of the world, Norman and Stevens have analysed size structure and maturity status at Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia. The final scientific paper explores population biology in whale sharks using DNA sequence analysis in Mexico (Ramirez-Macias et al.). The Conservation & Management section includes presentations from the remaining four themes; these papers address key topics such as the threats whale sharks face, the nature of their interactions with humans across their migratory range and ecotourism management. Rowat describes the current international conservation framework and details the perceived impacts and priorities of 11 Indian Ocean rim countries as identified by respondents from the areas. As a result, the author offers preliminary steps to establish ongoing conservation protocols. A study of the ecotourism industry in Donsol, Philippines, by Quiros, examined tourist compliance of the code of conduct for whale shark interactions and the causes of avoidance behaviour by the sharks. Exploration of ecotourism continues with a focus on socioeconomics, as Rowat and Engelhardt provide a paper that examined the potential and actual values of revenues from the industry, discussing the direct links and spin-offs of these commercial activities. Two papers examine the ecotourism industry in Bahia de los Angeles, Mexico. The first, by Cardenas-Torres et al., led to the implementation of a whale shark interaction code of conduct and established an annually updated continuous data

set collected directly by tour operators. Rodriguez-Dowdell et al. then examines property rights, exploring the management of a whale shark ecotourism industry threatened by open access of the resource. Two short communications are given; both provide accounts of whale shark distribution not yet published. White and Cavanagh’s communication reports on artisanal fishing of whale sharks in Indonesia, based on research data and information from local shark-fin dealers. Finally, Jonahson and Harding detail the presence of whale sharks in Madagascar as observed by local fishers and tour operators, highlighting the need for research and management in these waters. Following 3 days of presentations, the final conference day held 2 concurrent workshops to discuss how best to conserve, manage and research whale sharks internationally. The science workshop established priorities and procedures for global research collaboration and developing regional projects. Important points raised include the production of standardised manuals on what data to collect and how to collect it, the need to allocate experts to countries developing research for advice and assistance and the creation of a data sharing network for accessing global information on the internet. In addition, an international whale shark research project steering committee was established to produce a proposal to obtain funding for satellite tags to be distributed around the world for better understanding of migration patterns. The second workshop aimed to facilitate mechanisms for collaboration on the management and conservation of this charismatic species. This workshop identified the key issues to be resolved, such as the global status of whale sharks, threats to them, and determining what can be done to improve conditions at local, regional and global levels. Workshop attendees developed a list of priorities important to improving conservation worldwide, which included the distribution of the conference Communiqu´e, development of a Convention of Migratory Species (CMS) listing proposal, investigating opportunities for funding, liaising with scientists to develop conservation-relevant research with a standardised approach, promoting public participation, the need for effective surveillance and enforcement, and the creation of an ongoing international correspondence network. Following the conference, in an action to initiate progress towards one of these workshop goals, Sonja Fordham and David Rowat created a Draft Strategy for Development of a Whale Shark Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) under the CMS. Whale sharks have been listed under the CMS Appendix II since 1999, but there has been insufficient interest in, and a resulting lack of progress toward, a legally binding CMS whale shark Agreement or MoU. It is hoped that the draft strategy will make steps towards this. In addition to these valuable workshops, a significant outcome of the First International Whale Shark Conference was the official release of a conference Communiqu´e on 12 May 2005 by Hon Dr. Judy Edwards, MLA Minister for Environment and Science for Western Australia, reproduced below. More than 80 delegates from 23 countries signified the world’s largest fish as vital for the maintenance of biodiversity, the health of marine

Foreword / Fisheries Research 84 (2007) 1–3

ecosystems, and appreciation by future generations. The Communiqu´e calls on all nations and governments to facilitate a rapid transition away from harvesting of whale sharks to sustainable alternatives, such as carefully managed ecotourism. Ongoing collaboration continues as the result of bringing together researchers, conservationists and ecotourism managers from around the globe. The papers presented here represent a sample of the high quality presentations given and diversity of interests in whale sharks. While not all papers are written with the scientific audience in mind, it was the aim of the IWSC to assemble all interested parties, many of which are not involved in research. It is hoped that by promoting the importance of cooperation between science and management and presenting both aspects here, all can benefit from these papers. We would like to acknowledge the sponsorship given by the Western Australian government Office of Science and Innovation through the Ningaloo Research Program which is now part of the Western Australian Marine Science Institution, Strategic Research Fund for the Marine Environment, Department of Environment and Conservation, Department of Environment and Heritage, Department of Fisheries, Australian Institute of Marine Science, Perth Convention Bureau, CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Perth Office and WWF Australia. These sponsorships allowed participation in the conference by a large number of international delegates. A full set of conference abstracts and list of delegates to the IWSC is available at http://www.srfme.org.au/ whaleshark/Wshark-conf-proceedings.pdf Open Communiqu´e International Whale Shark Conference We the participants of the International Whale Shark Conference, comprising scientific experts and representatives of Non-Government Organisations, intergovernmental organisations, the eco-tourism industry and Western Australian government agencies, having assembled from 23 countries of the world at Perth, Australia in May 2005 with the objectives of: advancing local, regional and international efforts for the conservation of whale sharks; facilitating regional and international collaboration in research on whale sharks,

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As such, there is wide scientific consensus on the need for urgent regional and international conservation measures. Greater levels of whale shark protection can also ensure healthier economic outcomes for coastal communities around the world where whale sharks occur by encouraging and enabling them to prosper through the non-consumptive use of whale sharks, and as such we Call upon Nations, Governments, Organisations and Individuals to act with intent and vigour to: Ensure worldwide protection of the whale shark and its habitat for the maintenance of biodiversity, ecosystem health and appreciation by future generations; Facilitate a rapid transition away from harvesting of whale sharks in order to bring prosperity to communities through sustainable economic alternatives, such as ecotourism; Secure a greater level of local, regional and international effort, cooperation and collaboration in scientific whale shark research including: distribution, abundance, movement, behaviour, life-history biology, genetics and ecological interactions with and dependencies on the physical and bio-geochemical environment; through the development of projects and the use of scientific and other networks; and Secure a greater level of local, regional and international effort, cooperation and collaboration in whale shark conservation including: wildlife and habitat protection agreements, fisheries monitoring and management programs, education, community-based conservation projects, economic feasibility studies, capacity building; through the development of projects and the use of conservation and other networks; and We also undertake to facilitate greater sharing of data and information of all types which support these goals and to meet again at a time in the future in conference to review progress. Agreed by Conference in session and released 12 May 2005 at Perth, Australia

Having heard fellow participants present 60 papers over 3 days in themes of Conservation, Science, Ecotourism, Socioeconomics and Management, Agree that There is cause for heightened concern over the state of global whale shark populations. The state of scientific knowledge in regard to whale sharks is insufficient to determine the precise level of threat to the survival of whale sharks, however, the evidence points to serious declines in the abundance of whale sharks in some parts of the world following even short periods of exploitation.

Guest Editor Tennille R. Irvine Guest Editor John K. Keesing ∗ CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia ∗ Corresponding

author. Tel.: +61 8 9333 6500; fax: +61 8 9333 6555. E-mail address: [email protected] (J.K. Keesing)