Line of action:

Marine ecosystems

Status:

En ejecución

Location:

Cantabria

Execution date:

2022

Duration:

01/07/2022 - 31/12/2025

Total budget:

372.000 €

Amount of aid from the Biodiversity Foundation:

€344,905.37 (92.72%)

In Cantabria, the regional government has been making a great effort to maintain a Stranding Network that responds to the events that may occur throughout each year. Budgetary constraints have limited the effectiveness of the Network to the attention of some cases of live specimens and to the macro and microscopic study of cases of strandings of dead specimens, from which valuable information has already been obtained. However, in the case of strandings of live specimens, it is necessary to expand the availability of veterinary care and incorporate collaborating entities and fishing guilds into the Stranding Network that, due to their activity and functions, can improve its operation.

The project aims to know the scope and reduce accidental captures, whose link with strandings is confirmed, as well as to complete the response capacity of the network to strandings of live specimens.
It also contemplates the improvement of sampling protocols, the transmission of this information to the central administration and the scientific community and the education and awareness of the population of Cantabria towards marine fauna and its threats.

Among the actions they have planned, the following stand out:

• Increased awareness-raising efforts among fishermen. Based on the experiences accumulated in recent years, the participation of the fishing sector is essential to continue working for the sustainability of fishing. The campaigns carried out with the sector have been positive, but their effectiveness is reduced as the reach within the brotherhoods is reduced or some time after the campaign. This action aims to establish constant ties with the sector through the guilds and the boats through a permanent team that works directly in situ and works as a link with the recovery center, reminding the collective of its importance in the recovery of the turtles and generating a relationship of trust that allows reaching all the turtles accidentally captured but released without reporting their capture. We are currently aware of the fact that there are unreported turtles, both because of the disparate delivery data within guilds with very similar fishing conditions, as well as because of direct information from fishermen or because of the number of dead stranded turtles in which the most likely cause of death is interaction with fishing. Through this action, the aim is to increase the number of turtles voluntarily surrendered by fishermen in order to recover them from the consequences of accidental capture and release them once the recovery process is completed.
• Dissemination days with fishermen and families. A fundamental part of working with the fishing community is to recognise their role and the importance of their work in achieving the conservation of the marine environment and the sustainability of the sector. Through the celebration of conferences in a relaxed atmosphere and together with their families, it is intended to value their essential role. Turtle releases will be organized by province on days agreed with the brotherhoods to favor the attendance of fishermen and their families. In addition to participating in the return to the sea of the recovered turtles, they will take the opportunity to hold workshops with the attending public and delve into the biology, threats and conservation of marine fauna and the ecosystems in which they live.
• Raising awareness of yacht clubs. Boarding and disseminating among the thousands of boats that are registered in the numerous yacht clubs on the coast can mean multiplying the number of observers in the open sea and locating animals in a compromised situation, dead animals and threats far from the coast. We have identified that on many occasions the protocol of action in the event of the sighting of sick or injured animals is unknown or is communicated once it has arrived at port when the chances of locating the animal are remote. Awareness among this group has been identified as an element to be incorporated to avoid incomplete warnings or warnings made once they have arrived in port and to increase detection in the open sea.
• Rescue, treatment, maintenance and release of a larger number of turtles. Based on what has been observed in previous specific campaigns, the work with fishermen is usually accompanied by a greater number of turtle admissions to the recovery center. It is expected that the establishment of the fishermen’s awareness programme will result in a considerable increase in the number of individuals admitted to the recovery centre and in the work of port collection, diagnostic tests, treatments, veterinary procedures and maintenance at the centre, as well as in an increase in the number of animals released after full recovery. This increase necessarily implies an increase in resources and human capital allocated to the different actions that comprise the recovery of sea turtles.
• Collection of dead specimens for transfer to the necropsy room. A lack detected in the stranding network of the Valencian Community is the loss of dead stranded cetaceans and turtles in a good state of preservation when they exceed two meters in length or the stranding occurs in the evening, weekend or holidays. Given the limitations of vehicles or available personnel of the technicians of the Generalitat Valenciana to carry out the collection and transfer, it is intended to incorporate a vehicle that allows the transfer to the necropsy room of the dolphins that exceed the current limitations and the specimens of dolphins and turtles that beach during the weekend and holidays. In this way, the necropsy can be carried out for diagnostic purposes to establish the cause of death and the taking of samples for the tissue bank.
• Establishment of a delivery system for accidentally caught cetaceans. Death by bycatch in different fishing gear is unfortunately a fact that also occurs in the case of cetaceans. However, communication by fishermen is practically non-existent, limiting the possibility of knowing the real number of cases, the impact on the different populations and possible solutions. Today we know, thanks to the necropsies of dead stranded cetaceans, that in our work area a significant percentage of dolphins die due to interaction with fishing. The objective is to work hand in hand with fishermen to get accidentally caught dolphins to communicate and deliver in order to generate basic information to address the situation. Additionally, the individuals delivered can be necropsied, which deepens the state of health of the population, causes of death and biological and ecological aspects that affect their conservation.
• Management of stranding of large cetaceans. Seemingly simple actions such as keeping a live specimen in its physiological position or moving a cetacean dead by water can be extremely complex when it comes to large cetaceans, in which size and weight quickly compromise the action. The objective is to acquire the material available on the market to be able to handle situations in which a large cetacean, alive or dead, is stranded on the coast. The use of inflatable stretchers expressly designed for use with cetaceans (pontoon) has proven to be an essential tool for assistance in this type of situation.
• Evaluation of the adaptation to the environment of turtles released after fin amputation. One of the common causes of sea turtles entering recovery centers is entanglement in marine litter. Unfortunately, the loss of one or more fins as a result of the injuries generated by entanglement is frequent. Amputated specimens are evaluated in depth in the centers prior to their release to ensure that they are suitable for reintroduction, generally considering reintroducible those animals that have lost a fin. However, the survival of these specimens after returning to the sea has not been evaluated. The objective of this action is to evaluate the survival in the open sea of amputated sea turtles after the recovery process using satellite tagging. Knowing the percentage of specimens that manage to readapt and what factors condition survival will allow establishing appropriate protocols for treatment, handling and release in recovery centers, maximizing the well-being and survival of entangled turtles.
• Evaluation of the survival of turtles released after recovery from accidental capture injuries. Thanks to recovery work and post-mortem studies, the pathologies derived from interaction with fisheries are known. These pathologies compromise the state of health of individuals accidentally captured, causing death in a high percentage of cases. Fortunately, a large number of the specimens treated at the recovery centre respond favourably to emergency treatment and are returned to the sea after the recovery process. However, today it is unknown if these specimens are capable of surviving or if the possible presence of sequelae not detected despite controls can compromise their survival. The objective is the use of survival assessment devices (pop-up systems) in turtles from bycatch and their comparison with control cases to evaluate the effectiveness of the recovery process and establish adequate protocols to maximize survival, ensure the welfare of the turtles entered, optimize resources and propose protocols for the management of turtles accidentally caught in fishing vessels.