Why are fishers retaining manta and devil ray bycatch?
Increasing fishing pressure, including from small-scale fisheries, has caused declines in more than one-third of all elasmobranch species. Tackling conservation issues in small-scale fisheries requires interdisciplinary approaches due to the coastal community's interdependence on marine resources. To support inclusive policy change and fisher engagement, an understanding of the motivations…
Recent studies reveal that fishing pressure, particularly from small-scale operations, has led to declines in over one-third of all elasmobranch species. To address these conservation issues, an interdisciplinary approach is necessary due to the coastal communities' reliance on marine resources. Understanding the motivations behind fishers' choices to retain elasmobranch bycatch, such as manta and devil rays, is essential for developing inclusive policy changes.
This article presents a case study of mobulid retention in India, the world's largest fishery for these slow-growing and vulnerable species. A survey of fishers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, two significant fishery states on India's east coast, was conducted.
The survey results indicate that fishers have diverse motivations for retaining mobulid bycatch. In both states, financial gain was the most significant driver for bycatch retention. In Tamil Nadu, all top three motivators were financially driven, while Andhra Pradesh had a mix of financial and non-financial factors, including nutritional value and storage optimization.
As the first socio-economic investigation of mobulid fisheries in India, this study reveals that motivations for bycatch retention vary geographically and may be influenced by cultural differences between states and the socio-economic backgrounds of decision-makers.
The findings suggest that to align conservation efforts with fishers' values and encourage participation in conservation, context-specific recommendations should be implemented. These recommendations include subsidies for net repair to promote mobulid release, setting minimum prices for sustainably sourced alternative species, improving the quality of target species, and increasing awareness of national and international regulatory obligations, such as CITES, CMS, and IOTC.
Understanding the specific motivations driving fishers' retention of mobulid bycatch is crucial for developing effective conservation strategies in India and other regions.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
