Improving marine management
How are coral reef monitoring programmes helping fisheries management in Seychelles? Jan Robinson of the Seychelles Fishing Authority and Tim Daw of the University of Newcastle, UK, make some suggestions.
Off the hook: saving turtles, albatrosses and other by-catch
According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), accidental catch or by-catch is probably the single greatest threat to marine turtles. As many as 200,000 Loggerheads and 50,000 Leatherback Turtles are caught annually by commercial long-line tuna, swordfish, and similar fisheries. WWF has been working with Mustad, the world's largest manufacturer of fishing hooks, to greatly reduce this problem by producing circle hooks for commercial fisheries.
Tag team meeting the tuna challenge
Most countries depend on tuna fish. But are we fishing it sustainably? In an attempt to provide answers to this vital question, a major project, the Regional Tuna Tagging Project (RTTP), is underway to increase what is known about this staple part of so many diets and economies. It involves putting small plastic tags on tens of thousands of fish, putting them back in the ocean, and - hopefully - recovering them. No small challenge. Project Publicity and Tag Recovery Officer Teresa Athayde takes up the story.
Around the Islands 2005
News in brief from Aride, Bird, Cousine and Fregate in the second half of 2005.
Return of the Seychelles Warbler
Back in the 1960s, the Seychelles Warbler or Timerl Dezil was probably the most endangered bird in the world, with only a handful of birds remaining. Cousin Island, the last place it survived, was purchased primarily to save this unspectacular but unique bird. Much has been done by BirdLife International to save the species. Now, Nature Seychelles has been working with our partners on Denis Island and scientists from the University of East Anglia in the UK and Groningen in the Netherlands on a major project to secure the future of the species.
