Report of the Second Workshop on The Biology and Conservation of ...

Table 9. Strategies identified by workshop participants as having <strong>the</strong>potential to reduce dugong by-catch, ranked by relative potential foreach country.StrategyDevelop community-based education andmanagement programs in fishing communitiesCountry rankings(1=most important)(1) Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines; (2)Australia, China, Thailand, Vietnam; (4) CambodiaIdentify key dugong habitats and negotiate closure toby-catch fisheries (i.e., fisheries in which dugongby-catch is known or suspected to occur)Improve enforcement <strong>of</strong> regulationsMonitor by-catchDevelop stricter regulationsModify gear (e.g., replace gillnets with fish corrals ortrap nets)Sponsor alternative livelihoods for fishermen involvedin by-catch fisheries(1) Australia, Thailand, Vietnam; (2) Cambodia;(3) China, Malaysia; (4) Indonesia.(1) China; (2) Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines;(3) Australia, Cambodia, Thailand.(2) Japan; (4) Malaysia, Thailand(1) Cambodia(3) Indonesia, Japan, Philippines(3) VietnamReduce effort in by-catch fisheriesIntroduce and enforce rules that require attendance atnetsBuy out gear known to be destructive <strong>of</strong> dugongs(e.g., pushnets)Introduce incentives to change to less damaging gearEmphasize conservation value <strong>of</strong> seagrass habitatsthreats posed by by-catch is so low on <strong>the</strong> part <strong>of</strong><strong>the</strong> public, fishery and community stakeholders,and decision makers that immediate initiation <strong>of</strong>full assessment and mitigation efforts is unlikelyto be supported or funded. Education effortswould be coupled in this phase with preliminarysurveys <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> scope <strong>of</strong> by-catch in regionalfisheries. Recognizing that some nations in <strong>the</strong>region are far<strong>the</strong>r along in <strong>the</strong>ir efforts to addressby-catch, e.g., <strong>the</strong> Philippines, it was stressed thatany regional action plan should not be viewed assupplanting or substituting for existing nationalefforts and plans, but ra<strong>the</strong>r as augmenting andcomplementing <strong>the</strong>m.A draft outline <strong>of</strong> items for inclusion in <strong>the</strong> firstphase <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> plan (Doc. 30) was amended andagreed (Table 10).<strong>Second</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong> on <strong>the</strong> Biology and Conservation <strong>of</strong> Small Cetaceans and Dugongs <strong>of</strong> SE Asia 89