The project “Towards solutions to interactions between fisheries and cetaceans in Moroccan and Tunisian waters” (the MAVA Depredation project) aims to reduce depredation by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in small pelagic purse seine fisheries in Morocco and Tunisia. This two-year project (2018-2020) is funded by the MAVA foundation.
The overall coordination of the project is ensured by the ACCOBAMS and GFCM Secretariats, in collaboration with SPA/RAC for the activities carried out in Tunisia. It is implemented in areas identified by the scientific national partners, namely the National Institute for Fisheries Research (INRH) of Morocco and the National Agronomic Institute (INAT) and National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies (INSTM) of Tunisia.
Building upon the pilot actions on cetacean depredation carried-out through the 2015-2018 project “Mitigating the negative interactions between threatened marine species and fishing activities”, the MAVA Depredation project focuses on the priorities identified in the context of the Moroccan pilot action “Dolphin interactions with purse seine sardine fisheries in the Moroccan Mediterranean” and the Tunisian pilot action “Dolphin and seabird interactions with purse seine small-pelagic fisheries in Kelibia”. The continuation of these activities through the MAVA Depredation project aims to ensure a technical follow-up of the monitoring activities and experiments – the reinforced seine and the acoustic repellents – and to improve, in parallel, the understanding of the behaviour of bottlenose dolphins and their interactions with the fisheries, and also with aquaculture in the case of Tunisia.
The Depredation project objectives are to:
* obtain a detailed analysis of the interaction between bottlenose dolphins and fisheries/aquaculture;
* study the ecological and population dynamics of bottlenose dolphins in relation to fisheries and aquaculture activities;
* test mitigation technologies, including with exchange of experience with international experts;
* raise awareness of the fishery sector stakeholders in the conservation of the marine environment, of its species and habitats;
* assess the long-term sustainability of the small pelagic fisheries in a context of stock reduction and competition for the resource;
* disseminate information and relevant material, including on lessons learned.
