Monitoring of the Atlantic goliath grouper through acoustic telemetry: subsidies for species conservation and establishment of Public Policies.
The Atlantic goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara) is classified as critically endangered (CR) by the Brazilian evaluation. Goliath grouper fishing has been forbidden in Brazil since 2002. Therefore, studies involving bioecology and mapping of the priority sites for its life cycle meet the need for scientific data in order to encourage management and preservation measures of the species.
In previous studies, the IMB team mapped and confirmed reproductive aggregations of goliath groupers on the coast of the Brazilian Southern state of Paraná, with 14 tagged individuals and four receivers, two of which located in the Marine National Park (PARNAM) Ilhas dos Currais.
This Project proposed to continue and expand the telemetry monitoring network, regarded as a priority by the Meros do Brasil Project, in which unique approaches have been used, such as: Aiming to identify aggregation sites, the scientific dives performed hovering census. The goliath groupers were marked during autonomous dives, with external tags attached to modified and adapted harpoons. In the acoustic telemetry, the goliath groupers were captured by hook and line. Through non-lethal techniques, age samples have been collected from dorsal fin radius, diet from stomach contents and reproduction through gonad sampling. Each specimen received two types of tags: Sonic Tag and External Capture Identification Tag. After these procedures, the specimens were released and periodically monitored through the reading and maintenance of the receiver net.
The method described above produced results which emphasized that the artificial reefs located in the PARMAN of Ilhas dos Currais are reproductive aggregation sites for the species. This is the first record of a spawning ground along the Brazilian coast. This information, along with time data on abundance estimation obtained in the location by the Meros do Brasil Project will help and promote new public policies for the protection and conservation of the species. In addition, as this is a marine no-take zone in the development phase of its Management Plan, the our results can be used by the manager and the boards, defining the zoning of areas allowed for visitation (encouraging scuba diving to watch the species) and the establishment of primary areas for the protection of the Atlantic goliath grouper.
Coordinator: Matheus Oliveira Freitas
Sponsor: Fundação Grupo Boticário de Proteção à Natureza
Partnership: Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Instituto MarBrasil, Universidade da Região de Joinville (UNIVILLE)
Duration: 2016-2018
Website: http://www.merosdobrasil.org/
Meros do Brasil Project
The main goal of the Meros do Brasil Project is the conservation of goliath groupers and of the marine and coastal environment through the development of research, education and communication activities.
The Project began in 2002, due to the goliath groupers’s decline along the Brazilian coast and through a group of researchers in the state of Santa Catarina. The purpose of this initiative was to raise funds for research and conservation of goliath groupers on the southern limit of occurrence of this species in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
In 2017, the IMB became legally responsible for the Project, which, sponsored by Petrobras, through its Social-environmental Program, expanded the study area to nine states along the Brazilian coast. Studies of a broader scope have allowed actions to be taken not only when it comes to conservation of goliath groupers, but also, to the associated marine-coastal environments, such as mangroves, estuaries, reefs and rocky coasts.
Projeto Meros do Brasil is conducted by nine institutions that work together by means of a network of technical and scientific partnerships in their different focal points. The Project also relies on partnership agreements with over 60 institutions that support the challenges of research and conservation of a species that is broadly distributed over almost the entire Brazilian coast.
Atlantic goliath groupers are currently considered a symbol of conservation and protection of the marine and coastal environments in the country. This result was only made possible thanks to the plurality of perspectives and aspirations shared between the academy (where it began), society (target group of the efforts of conservation of goliath groupers and of marine and coastal environments) and the governmental and private initiatives which support, promote, and believe in the implementation of the Project’s actions.
Coordinator: Maíra Borgonha Sponsor: Petrobras – Programa Petrobras Socioambiental Partnership: Universidade Federal do Pará (Pará); Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (Pernambuco); Universidade Federal de Alagoas (Alagoas), Movimento Cultural Arte Manha (Bahia); Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (Espírito Santo); Associação Amigos do Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro); Instituto de Pesca (São Paulo); Museu de História Natural Capão da Imbuia (Paraná) e Instituto COMAR (Santa Catarina). Duration: 2006-nowadays Website: http://www.merosdobrasil.org/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projetomerosdobrasil Instagram: @merosdobrasil Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ProjetoMerosdoBrasil/featured
O Projeto surgiu em 2002, tendo em vista o cenário de declínio dos meros na costa brasileira, por meio de um grupo de pesquisadores no estado de Santa Catarina. A iniciativa buscava viabilizar recursos para a pesquisa e conservação dos meros no limite sul de ocorrência desta espécie no Oceano Atlântico Ocidental.
Em 2017, o IMB passou a ser o responsável legal pelo Projeto, que, patrocinado pela Petrobras, por meio do Programa Petrobras Socioambiental, ampliou a área de estudo para nove estados da costa brasileira. A realização de estudos de maior amplitude tem permitido atuar não somente na conservação dos meros, mas também dos ambientes marinho-costeiros associados como manguezais, recifes de corais e costões rochosos.
O Projeto Meros do Brasil é realizado por nove instituições que trabalham juntas por meio de uma rede de parceria técnica e científica em seus diferentes pontos focais. O Projeto conta também com a parceria de mais de 60 instituições apoiadoras nos desafios de pesquisa e conservação de uma espécie que é distribuída amplamente em praticamente todo o litoral brasileiro.
Atualmente, os meros são tidos como um símbolo de conservação e proteção dos ambientes costeiros e marinhos no país. Esse resultado foi possível graças à pluraridade de olhares e aspirações compartilhadas entre a academia (onde surgiu), sociedade (para quem se destinam os esforços de conservação dos meros e ambientes marinhos e costeiros) e a iniciativa privada e governamental que suportam, apoiam e acreditam na realização das suas ações.
Coordenação: Maíra Borgonha
Fonte financiadora: Petrobras – Programa Petrobras Socioambiental
Parcerias: Universidade Federal do Pará (Pará); Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (Pernambuco); Universidade Federal de Alagoas (Alagoas), Movimento Cultural Arte Manha (Bahia); Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (Espírito Santo); Associação Amigos do Museu Nacional (Rio de Janeiro); Instituto de Pesca (São Paulo); Museu de História Natural Capão da Imbuia (Paraná) e Instituto COMAR (Santa Catarina).
Período de realização: 2017-2020
Website: http://www.merosdobrasil.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projetomerosdobrasil
Instagram: @merosdobrasil
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ProjetoMerosdoBrasil/featured
Sharks and Rays Project
Projeto Tubarões e Arraias has developed an audacious program of environmental education on the coast of Alagoas aiming the conservation of elasmobranches and their environment.
With that in mind, teachers were trained, through the development of educational activities, speeches, preparation and dissemination of awareness material, including social media, reports for news websites, newspapers and TV news.
The environmental education activities developed reached over 3.000 students and 14 teachers of public and private schools in eight towns, which in their majority, are part of the Costa dos Corais (Coral Coast) and Piaçabuçu Marine Protected Areas, besides the Extractive Marine Reserve o Lagoa de Jequiá da Praia.
Aside from the educational activities, which presented theoretical and practical content, kits were donated to the visited schools, containing one small shark fixed and conserved in 70% alcohol, tanned skin, jawbones and vertebras of sharks and stingrays often caught or sold along the coast of the State of Alagoas.
Different classes/speeches have been developed for each school. They highlight the history, tourist attractions and general information for each municipality, as well as the most usual species of sharks and stingrays. There were prize draws giving away T-shirt, stickers and educational posters. At the end, aside from the kits, some educational material was made available to the teachers, aiming to facilitate the learning and teaching processes. The project’s actions included participation in science fairs, and public exhibitions as well as the presence of stands during the Penedo Cinema Circuit (2018/2019), exhibiting dental arches, stuffed animals, preserved in alcohol and panels.
For the actions regarding environmental education and fisheries legislation, speeches and expositions were used in academic events at the Federal Institute de Alagoas (IFAL) and Alagoas Federal University (UFAL), along with visitation to the fishery colonies and training courses to prepare the raft fishermen to work with tourism in the reef areas. These actions often addressed curiosities and provided explanations about the behavior of sharks and stingrays besides the protected species on the coast.
Due to the low literacy rate among fishermen in Alagoas, visual language was developed for the preparation of talks, T-shirts and posters which were distributed among the approximately 350 fishermen from different localities.
We also made use of other spaces to reach specific audiences, such as entrepreneurs, public administrators and politicians. Among them there was The Sustainability Workshop – International Agenda for Sustainable Development in the APA Costa dos Corais, held in Paripueira’s City Council Building.
Those activities promoted and valued culture and acknowledged local knowledge, even when such knowledge was mistaken about sharks and stingrays, trying to comprehend its dimensions in order to be able to later demystify and align scientific information with school education.
In conclusion, a virtual forum dedicated to conservation and education was developed for the region, where fake news can be debunked and news reports and articles can be shared, enhancing the relationship among the several communities, the media and the sharks and stingrays on the coast of Alagoas.
Coordinator: Cláudio Luis Santos Sampaio
Sponsor: Instituto Linha D’Água
Partnership: Universidade Federal de Alagoas
Duration: 2018
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tubaroesearraias/
Instagram: @ lic.ufal.penedo
Conservation of the endangered endemic parrotfish
Conservation of the endangered endemic parrotfish in the reefs of APA Costa dos Corais (Pernambuco and Alagoas) with a focus on the National Action Plan for Conservation of the Reef Environments (PAN Corais).
Scarus trispinosus is a Brazilian endemic fish known as blue parrotfish or green beak parrotfish. Among the most endangered species of parrotfish in the world, it is included as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, on the ordinance 445 list of MMA, and it is considered a primary species for conservation in the Reef Environment National Action Plan (PAN Corais).
Based on the decline measured in several locations of the Brazilian coast, it is estimated that the global population of this species has diminished in, at least, 50% over the last 20 to 30 years (three generations time). In this context, this project aims to implement priority actions for the conservation of the endangered and endemic parrotfish Scarus trispinosus in the reefs of the Environmental Protection Area of Costa dos Corais (APACC, Portuguese abbreviation) with a focus on the PAN Corais.
The actions of the Project focus on three main fronts: (1) Research to improve comprehension of the use of habitat and behavior of the species: Occurrence distribution data will be used to map the conservation priority areas (e.g..: nursery, spawning and feeding areas). The acquired data will allow the development of modeling maps of the conservation priority areas in the APACC, targeting the actions of management and operation as subsidy to the zoning and establishment of the biodiversity recovery areas (“no take” areas); (2) Recovery of traditional knowledge in order to understand the decline of the species. In addition, joint actions with the local fishing community, municipal and federal public administrators for the implementation of a Species Recovery Plan. (3) Environmental Education for the awareness of the ecological importance of the blue-parrotfish as the flagship species. Environmental Education Actions for different audiences such as the local community (children and fishermen) and tourists, have sought to raise awareness about the blue parrotfish.
Using an holistic and multidisciplinary approach and a combination of partnerships between public administrators, the academic community and non-governmental organizations, this project has sought to pursue concrete conservation actions for the Blue Parrotfish, a priority species for conservation and with extremely reduced populations on the Brazilian coast.
Coordinator: Pedro Henrique Cipresso Pereira
Sponsorship: Fundação Grupo Boticário de Proteção à Natureza
Partnership: Projeto Conservação Recifal
Duration: 2019 - 2020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/projetoconservacaorecifal/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pcrconservacao/
