Abstract for Third Mediterranean Conference on Marine Turtles, Tunisia 2008
Monitoring and conservation of important sea turtle foraging grounds in the Patok area of Albania Michael White (1), Idriz Haxhiu (2), Stephanos Kouris (3), Prue Robinson (4), Merita Rumano (5), Lily Venizelos (6) MEDASSET (1) (crwban681@yahoo.co.uk) [Presenter] Tirana University, Natural History Museum, Tirana, Albania (2) (idrizhaxhiu@yahoo.com) MEDASSET (3) (medasset@medasset.gr) MEDASSET (4) (robinsonprue@yahoo.com.au) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Water Administration, Nature Protection Policy, Tirana, Albania (5) ( meritarumano@yahoo.com ) MEDASSET (6) (medasset@medasset.gr)
Research investigating the population dynamics of sea turtles began at Patok, Albania, in June 2008, where their presence has been known for several years; Professor Haxhiu has tagged turtles caught as bycatch since 2002. White et al. (2006) confirmed the distribution patterns of turtles in coastal waters by interviewing fishermen throughout Albania. The Patok project will investigate: reasons for the presence of large numbers of loggerheads in Gjiri i Drinit, possibly oceanography or food; consider habitat purpose (e.g. year-round or summer-only foraging, overwintering, or transient use by migrating animals); and identify instances of inter- and intra-annual site-fidelity by individual turtles. Captured turtles will be tagged prior to release, morphometric and photorecognition studies will be undertaken (White, 2007). Researchers from Tirana University will be trained in field techniques; and workshops undertaken with local fishermen; strong links will be developed with schools and other local stake-holders (capacity-building). The project will enable tertiary-level students to conduct fieldwork with turtles towards their diploma or PhD studies. Awareness-raising activities are planned, such as school visits and various media presentations. Conservation programmes will be developed by MEDASSET and ECAT (Tirana). A central tagging-database will be established for Albania; building on Haxhiu’s previous work. Extensive artisanal fishing in the area (fish-traps, trawls, and longlines) means that turtles will be caught as bycatch; however, we aim through education to reduce mortality levels of captured turtles utilising RAC/SPA’s ‘Sea Turtle Handling Guide for Fishermen’. Management plans will be passed to the Ministry of Environment, with recommendations for best fishing practices. Key words: marine turtles; Albania; fishing; by-catch; conservation Presenter: Dr. Michael White Word Count: 250