Promoting participative conservation actions to ensure protection for critically endangered scalloped hammerhead shark, Sphyrna lewini, and associated species in the Pacific of Guatemala
With this project, we seek to identify, delimit and promote a proposal to declare at least one non-fishing zone in Guatemala in which scalloped hammerhead, Sphyrna lewini use as nursery areas. In order to achieve this objective it is necessary to conduct outreach workshops with fishermen, as well to obtain data that will contribute to correctly delimit important nursery areas; this also ensure a consulting and very communicative process. Second, we seek to continue the landing monitoring of elasmobranchs in artisanal fisheries in three coastal communities. If we have longtime series of data of the capture of the scalloped hammerhead and other species of sharks and rays, it is possible to evaluate trends and to generate most confident analysis of the resource to implement most adequate conservations actions.
- Three workshops with stakeholders and fishermen to delimitate putative nursery areas of Scalloped Hammerhead; we will gather information about the principal areas where S. lewini is captured and about important habitats in the coastal zone; then with geographic technology, we will delimitate the nursery areas to be declared as Non-Fishing zones, with community consensus and established guidelines.
- Five workshops with authorities and the Technical Group of Chondrichthyes of Guatemala to advocate the legal declaration of the first non-fishing zone.
- Continuation of the landing monitoring program, by taking morphometric data of elasmobranch captures in three communities, to evaluate trends.
