Session 31: AES Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (first 1)/ Fisheries, Conservation and Management I (last 5)Room: Conference Theater2022-07-30 08:00 - 09:30 |
| Moderator: Karyl Brewster-Geisz |
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1. 08:00 What can Professional Scientific Societies do to Improve Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: A Case Study of the American Elasmobranch Society. David Shiffman*, Arizona State University; Triana Arguedas Álvarez, Minorities in Shark Sciences; Charles Bangley, Dalhousie; Reilly Boyt, Disabilities Within Ocean Science w; Isabelle Cote, Simon Fraser University; Toby Daly-Engel, Florida Tech; Alexandra Davis, University of Alberta; Leo Gaskins, Duke University; Jasmin Graham, Minorities in shark sciences; Rachel Graham, MarAlliance; Shaili Johri, Stanford University; Catherine Macdonald, University of Miami; Misty Paig-Tran, CSU Fullerton; Alberto Roca, DiverseScholar; Gail Schwieterman, VIMS; Lisa Whitenack, Allegheny College; Tonya Wiley, Havenworth Consulting; Lara Ferry, Arizona State University david.shiffman@gmail.com
Scientific professional societies are reviewing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices and policies in response to recent calls for much-needed change. Organizations like scientific professional societies contribute to establishing disciplinary norms, and can influence the diversity of disciplinary workforces in multiple ways through both action and inaction. Here we use the American Elasmobranch Society as a case study, focusing on 1) an analysis of the demographics of society members and leaders over time; 2) an evaluation of AES's diversity initiative focusing on proposed improvements, and 3) a synthesis of recommendations that AES can take to better support DEI goals. AES’s membership in recent years is more than half women, but 71.5% of all leadership positions in the Society’s history (including all but two Presidents) have been held by men since the society was founded in1983. AES’s membership has significantly fewer Black/African-American members than the US scientific workforce overall, with just one member out of over 400 identifying as Black in 2019, and 86.6% of Society leadership positions have been held by white-presenting members. The Society’s diversity initiative has led to some limited professional benefits for awardees, and could benefit from additional resources and support to enact suggested expansions and improvements. We provide a series of actionable recommendations that will make the annual meetings of societies like AES, and the field of chondrichthyan science, safer and more inclusive. |
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2. 08:15 M-Risk: A Framework For Assessing Global Fisheries Management Efficacy of Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras. C. Samantha Sherman*, Earth to Oceans Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University; Glenn Sant, TRAFFIC International; Colin A. Simpfendorfer, Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania; Eric D. Digel, Earth to Oceans Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University; Patrick Zubick, Earth to Oceans Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University; Grant Johnson, Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Fisheries Branch, Northern Territory Government; Michael Usher, Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade, Fisheries Branch, Northern Territory Government; Nicholas K. Dulvy, Earth to Oceans Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University sammsherman27@gmail.com
Fisheries management is essential to guarantee sustainable capture of target species, and to avoid undesirable impacts on incidentally caught species. A key challenge is to assess the status of species and the degree to which management is sufficient to avoid declines in relatively data-poor fisheries. While ecological risk analyses focus on intrinsic ‘productivity’ and extrinsic ‘susceptibility’, one would ideally understand the third axis of ‘fisheries management’. Currently, there is no single management evaluation that can be applied to a range of data-poor fishery types. Here, we outline a management risk (M-Risk) framework for sharks, rays, and chimaeras that can be used to evaluate a species’ risk to overfishing resulting from ineffective management. We illustrate our approach with application to one country (Ecuador) and one regional fisheries management organisation (RFMO) (Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission) and show the variation in scores between species. We found that while both management units assessed had similar overall scores, the scores for individual attributes varied. Ecuador scored higher in reporting-related attributes, while the RFMO scored higher in attributes related to data collection and its use. We evaluated whether management of individual species was sufficient for their relative sensitivity by the combining the management risk score for each species with their intrinsic sensitivity to determine a final overall M-Risk score. This framework can be applied to determine which species face the greatest risk of overfishing and be used by fisheries managers to identify effective management policies by replicating regulations from countries with lower risk scores. |
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3. 08:30 Sharks on a plane: Shark fin seizure shines light on shark exploitation. Teagen Partin*, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement - National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory; Alberto Gonzalez, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement - Miami Field Office; Mary Burnham-Curtis, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement - National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory tkgray07@gmail.com
One of the biggest threats to sustainability of shark populations is overexploitation due to high global market demand for fins, meat, skin, and cartilage. Current laws designed to regulate the worldwide trade in certain shark species have not stemmed illegal and unreported trade. In January 2020, United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) wildlife inspectors seized an illegal shipment of shark fins at the Miami airport during an inspection of an in-transit shipment from South America to Asia. The shipment contained over 5,000 fins, placing it among the largest seizures in the US to date. We utilized a combination of morphological and genetic analyses to evaluate species diversity of the sharks targeted for this illegal shipment. Morphological identification of pectoral and dorsal fins revealed over 50% were obtained from CITES Appendix II species, including silky shark (Carcharhinus falciformis), great hammerhead (Sphyrna mokarran), and scalloped hammerhead (Sphyrna lewini). A random subset of dorsal fins was sampled from the CITES species as well as the unidentified species to confirm morphological identifications and estimate species diversity of the fins not identified by morphological analysis. The data from the genetic and morphological analysis of this case will be used to inform ongoing investigations of the origin of this illegal shipment, as well as future investigations of shark fisheries undergoing exploitation for the shark fin trade. |
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4. 08:45 Sawfish lifeboat springing a leak? Harnessing twenty years of ecological research to guide sawfish conservation and ecosystem management. Karissa Lear*, Murdoch University; Adrian Gleiss, Murdoch University; Jeff Whitty, Murdoch University; Steve Beatty, Murdoch University; David Morgan, Murdoch University; Travis Fazeldean, Murdoch University karissalear@gmail.com
Sawfishes are some of the most threatened marine fishes in the world, due largely to overfishing and habitat loss. However, there are a few places throughout the globe that still support healthy populations, often termed ‘lifeboat’ populations as they represent the species’ best chances at persistence. One such place is the Fitzroy River in the Kimberley, Western Australia, which is one of the last known intact nursery habitats for largetooth sawfish Pristis pristis in the world, and arguably the most important. However, this relatively remote and pristine river system has come under increasing pressure in recent years from development of water resources for agricultural purposes. Fortunately, ecological data on this sawfish population have been collected over a long time period and can help ensure that regulations surrounding water resource development in the Fitzroy River preserve essential sawfish habitat requirements. Here, we review 20 years of research on sawfish in the Fitzroy River, including annual monitoring, acoustic tracking, measurement of metabolic rates, and accelerometer tagging, to determine how sawfish may respond to water abstraction in the river, particularly in combination with future climate change scenarios. This body of research has enabled us to identify specific regulations that are necessary to allow sawfish to persist in this ecosystem. These results have been communicated directly to management bodies to promote effective sawfish conservation and sustainable water resource management. |
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5. 09:00 Update on North Atlantic Shortfin Mako Shark Management in the United States. Karyl Brewster-Geisz*, NOAA Fisheries karyl.brewster-geisz@noaa.gov
The Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Management Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is responsible for the management of the U.S. federal shark fisheries in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea. Federal management of sharks, including management of North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks (Isurus oxyrinchus), began in 1993, and has evolved dramatically as our knowledge of sharks and the available management tools have improved. On October 21, 2021, the American Elasmobranch Society (AES) sent a letter to NOAA Fisheries, “urging the United States (and Mexico) to heed urgent scientific advice for North Atlantic shortfin mako sharks through domestic protections and an international retention ban under the International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).” I will provide an update on the current management of this iconic shark. |
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6. 09:15 The status of the world’s sharks, rays, and chimaeras. Nick Dulvy
The scale and drivers of marine biodiversity loss are being revealed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment process. We present the first global reassessment of 1,199 species in Class Chondrichthyes – sharks, rays, and chimaeras. The first global assessment (in 2014) concluded that one-quarter (24%) of species were threatened. Now, 391 (32.6%) species are threatened with extinction. When this percentage of threat is applied to Data Deficient species, more than one-third (37.5%) of chondrichthyans are estimated to be threatened, with much of this change resulting from new information. Three species are Critically Endangered (Possibly Extinct), representing possibly the first global marine fish extinctions due to overfishing. Consequently, the chondrichthyan extinction rate is potentially 25 extinctions per million species years, comparable to that of terrestrial vertebrates. Overfishing is the universal threat affecting all 391 threatened species and is the sole threat for 67.3% of species and interacts with three other threats for the remaining third: loss and degradation of habitat (31.2% of threatened species), climate change (10.2%), and pollution (6.9%). Species are disproportionately threatened in tropical and subtropical coastal waters. Science-based limits on fishing, effective marine protected areas, and approaches that reduce or eliminate fishing mortality are urgently needed to minimise mortality of threatened species and ensure sustainable catch and trade of others. Immediate action is essential to prevent further extinctions and protect the potential for food security and ecosystem functions provided by this iconic lineage of predators. |