2012. Review of Significant Trade - Cites

Tursiops aduncus
SPREP (South Pacific regional Environment Program) Whale and Dolphin Action Plan 2008-
2012 (SPREP, 2007) and the CMS MoU (Oremus et al., 2011).
The IUCN Cetacean Specialist group workshop held in Samoa in 2008 addressed the
scientific and technical issues relating to T. aduncus in the Solomon Islands (Reeves and
Brownell, 2009). The workshop discussed management goals, assessment options, methods
for determining population sizes and outlined a framework for assessment (Reeves and
Brownell, 2009). It was concluded that the best approach to assess abundance and delineate
populations would be a combination of mark-recapture analyses of photo-identification data
and genetic analyses of tissue samples, and that population assessment efforts would need
to increase for live-capture in the Solomon Islands to continue (Reeves and Brownell, 2009).
The participants concluded that assessments could not be achieved quickly or inexpensively
(Reeves and Brownell, 2009).
The Management Authority of the Solomon Islands confirmed to the Secretariat on
28 September 2009 that its Government had allocated SBD 500 000 (local currency), or
approximately USD 65 000 for dolphin surveys in order to obtain sufficient information to
produce a scientifically robust non-detriment finding (AC25 Doc. 9.5) 2 . A scientific research
project, technically and financially supported by SPWRC, was initiated in 2009 to improve
understanding of the population status and dynamics of T. aduncus and contribute to an
assessment of the sustainability of the level of live captures (Horokou, in litt. to CITES
Secretariat, 2009; Oremus et al., 2011).
A technical committee comprising representatives of the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine
Resources, Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Meteorology, Ministry of
Development Panning and Aid Coordination and The Nature Conservancy had been
established to arrange surveys in collaboration with SPWRC (Horokou, in litt. to CITES
Secretariat, 2009).
The findings of these scientific surveys 2009-2011 which include photo-identification, biopsy
data, and information from traders will be available at the end of 2011
(Marc Oremus, pers. comm., 2011), and this data will be used to advise the Solomon Islands
government on future management decisions concerning trade in T. aduncus (Oremus et al.,
2011).
A case study non-detriment finding for T. aduncus in the Solomon Islands presented at the
NDF workshop in Mexico in 2008 concluded that “the current data available from the
Solomon Islands are inadequate for a rigorous NDF assessment” (Reeves and Horokou,
2008). However, as referred to above, this document was contested by the CITES Scientific
Authority of the Solomon Islands.
Referring to the surveys taking place in partnership with SPWRC, it was acknowledged by
the CITES Management Authority of the Solomon Islands that “only through these surveys
can the desired information to produce a robust NDF be made available” (Horokou, in litt.
to CITES Secretariat, 2009).
Two protected areas in the Solomon Islands may offer some protection to T. aduncus. The
Marovo Lagoon World Heritage Area located in North New Georgia in the western part of
the Solomon Islands protects tropical dolphins, and at the Arnavon Islands Marine
Conservation Area, a 31.9 sq mi Marine Conservation Area between Santa Isabel and
Chioseul islands in the Manning Straights, dolphin sightings have been confirmed, although
2 This was erroneously reported as USD$500,000 in document AC25 Doc. 9.5.
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