Quantifying Threats to Seahorses and Sea Turtles in Cambodia and Designing By-catch Mitigation Measures

Endangered species such as sea turtles and seahorses are often caught as bycatch in both large- and small-scale fishing gear in Cambodia. Recently, the Royal Government of Cambodia has created Marine Fisheries Management Areas... [ view full abstract ]

Endangered species such as sea turtles and seahorses are often caught as bycatch in both large- and small-scale fishing gear in Cambodia. Recently, the Royal Government of Cambodia has created Marine Fisheries Management Areas (MFMAs – multiple use protected areas) to conserve marine fishery resources and biodiversity. However, bycatch is still a significant threat to seahorses and sea turtles in Cambodia’s waters and additional measures are required to tackle this threat both inside and outside protected areas. So far, there have been few studies conducted to understand threats to seahorse and sea turtles in Cambodia. To fill this gap, FFI researchers have been interviewing fishermen across coastal provinces in Cambodia to understand the scale and drivers of endangered species catch and trade, in order to design locally-appropriate conservation measures. Here, we share results from these surveys and expose the scale of the threat from trawl fisheries to both sea turtles and seahorses in Cambodia. In addition, we report on results from in-water assessments of seahorse populations within a permanent monitoring site in the Koh Rong Archipelago MFMA, where fishing restrictions have been in place since 2016. Through feeding data and recommendations into site-level and national Technical Working Groups and management plans for marine conservation, this primary research will guide both MPA management and fisheries policy development in Cambodia.