guest lecture -international marine conservation

Question 1

what is identifin/finprint?

Answer 1

• Identifin - software
• Shark population monitoring
Indonesia - finprint,

Question 2

what in water research did she do?

Answer 2

○ In water research = physically in water - free or scuba diving
§ Assess impacts on reefs - climate change, local fishing, recovery
q

Question 3

problematic type of fishing in indonesia?

Answer 3

§ Dynamite fishing - kills corals - some species grew back faster but - race against time btwn algae settling in vs saving them

Question 4

BRUVS? dowsides?

Answer 4

baited remote underwater video system - analyze which species come by - fish respond to your presence - if they hide your fish counts will be off but with BRUVS they will come back
§ Downsides- cost, weight
○ AI training

Question 5

describe the form of underwater transect used

Answer 5

she used line point- accounts for height
• Predetermined path in the water, record the reoccurrence of objects or organisms
• Can be a straight line or a grid
• Film the numbers in the tape measure and what is below it - analyzed at increments later
• Species, environment, etc
• One person surveying fish, one person doing fish, one person doing the transect - 5 ppl total, surveying on each side
• Recording species that impact the coral in this case

Question 6

end goal of her underwater transect? what are the pros and cons of it

Answer 6

• End goal - how diverse is our environment? Diversity is good for coral reefs = more resilient
• Pros and cons - can incorporate more of the environment but it does change the behavior of the fish
○ Quality not super great - your knowledge level impacts your results + accuracy

Question 7

what do you need to know before monitoring?

Answer 7

• Fish:
○ Recognize anatomical features
§ Markings, fin shape, coloration, body shape
○ Taxonomy
○ Coral structure type
§ Branching, massive, table, foliose, etc
Behavior change in fish - if feeding from local pop impacts it

Question 8

why is coral diversity good? how can fish communicate?

Answer 8

• More coral diversity - the better the biodiversity is for other species
  
  • Fish communication - auditory

Question 9

what is important to keep in mind when doing conservation work?

Answer 9

• Conservation as a whole - understand + respect cultures and how they operate + address concerns with community = anthropology

Question 10

issue with dynamite fishing and algae? recommendation to replace dynamite fishing economically?

Answer 10

○ Ex dynamite fishing - recommended seaweed farming sustainably - agar farming
○ Some fishers taken to see how conservation improves reefs + yield
○ When algae settles in - corals cant get sunlight - algae ruins hiding places on corals for fish - parrot fish can eat this = why not leave those ones in the water to bring in more fish
§ Coming back to the area = less algae, conservation efforts working

Question 11

indonesian govt policy on dynamite fishing

Answer 11

• Govt policies are not the end all be all
• Indonesian govt policy - impacts both those fishing commercially local and internationally, as well as those fishing for personal reasons
Partially bc of blanket sieving/ dynamite fishing - resort to fishing fish they werent targeting

Question 12

what was her honors project

Answer 12

• Great white sharks

Dorsal fin photo identification + population analysis

Question 13

how are dorsal fins used to identify sharks

Answer 13

Dorsal fins = like a finger print = all have different trailing edge

Question 14

why are sharks hard to study?

Answer 14

• Difficult to study - travel large distances

Question 15

objectives and questions of her project

Answer 15

• Can we use images of dorsal fins to identify unique individuals?
  
  • Same sharks = population in that area - compared to mussel bay - same sharks?
  • Objective: fill in the significant info gaps in shark pop dynamics by using dorsal fin identification techniques to better advocate for shark conservation policies

Question 16

hypotheses

Answer 16

• Hypothesis:
1. Using dorsal fin identification will allow us to provide insight on pop dispersal
Support existing genetic evidence of panmixia around the south african coastline

Question 17

conservation challenges

Answer 17

• Lack of data
• Lack of fisheries data and existing research
• Anthropogenic activities
○ Over fishing
○ Targeted fishing of sharks
○ Climate change - temp, acidity - sharks migrating more north bc cooler
• Negative public and government opinion of sharks has limited funding to protect them
○ Slowly changing

Question 18

how does identifin work

Answer 18

• Identifin
○ Traces distinct notch pattern
○ improve speed of matching and data analysis
○ Separates fin from background (ocean/ wave noise)

Question 19

results of her project. why might it become a protected area?

Answer 19

• Only 1 shark was the same from gansbaai and mossel bay
○ Site fidelity - why? - majority of sharks identified were female - half were adults and half were juveniles
○ Potentially a nursery
○ Most vulnerable stage = more likely to be protected by govt