Promote knowledge exchange between fishers to improve good practice

Overall effectiveness category Awaiting assessment
Number of studies: 1
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Effectiveness

not assessed
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not assessed
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Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Fishers commonly share information through social relationships, and this may lead to increased fishing success (Turner et al. 2014). However, knowledge exchange between fishers could also be used as a tool to help promote sustainable practices, particularly if the central fishers in information-sharing networks can be identified and co-opted to assist managers in the spreading of conservation information (Mbaru & Barnes 2017).

^{Mbaru E.K. & Barnes M.L. (2017) Key players in conservation diffusion: Using social network analysis to identify critical injection points. Biological Conservation, 210, 222–232.}

^{Turner R.A., Polunin N.V.C. & Stead S.M. (2014) Social networks and fishers' behavior: Exploring the links between information flow and fishing success in the Northumberland lobster fishery. Ecology and Society, 19, 38.}

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects on reptile populations of promoting knowledge exchange between fishers to improve good practice. This study was in the USA.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (1 STUDY)

Survival (1 study): One before-and-after study in the USA found that following the introduction of a tool to help facilitate knowledge exchange and the avoidance of loggerhead turtles, loggerhead turtle bycatch was similar compared to the two years before the tool was introduced.

BEHAVIOUR (0 STUDIES)

OTHER (1 STUDY)

Human behaviour change (1 study): One before-and-after study in the USA found that following the introduction of a tool to help facilitate avoidance of loggerhead turtles, fishers did not spend less time fishing in the areas recommended for avoidance by the tool.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A before-and-after study in 2005–2007 in pelagic waters north of Hawaii, USA (Howell et al. 2008) found that a tool (‘TurtleWatch’) created to facilitate knowledge exchange and the avoidance of loggerhead turtle Caretta caretta interactions with a swordfish Xiphias gladius shallow-set longline fishery, did not reduce turtle catch, and fishers did not spend less time fishing in areas recommended for avoidance by the tool. Results were not statistically tested. After the tool was deployed, 0–0.03 loggerhead turtles/1000 hooks (12 total turtles) were caught compared to 0.01–0.04 loggerhead turtles/1000 hooks (17 total turtles) in the previous year and 0–0.05 turtles/1000 hooks (9 total turtles) two years earlier. Fishers did not remain south of the fishing boundary line recommended by the tool, instead the whole fishery moved further north than previously and remained north for a longer time than in the two preceding years (see paper for details). ‘TurtleWatch’ combined historical fishing, environmental and turtle behavioural data to recommend areas to avoid fishing. In January–March 2007, information from the tool was disseminated daily in electronic and paper format to industry professionals and fishers. The fishery also had a legal catch limit of 17 turtles/year, after which fishery closures were imposed. In January–March 2005–2007, line deployments (2005: 520 deployments; 2006: 842; 2007: 797), number of hooks put out (2005: 429,580 hooks; 2006: 670,914; 2007: 689,486), and loggerhead turtle interactions were monitored.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Howell E.A., Kobayashi D.R., Parker D.M., Balazs G.H. & Polovina J.J. (2008) TurtleWatch: a tool to aid in the bycatch reduction of loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta in the Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery. Endangered Species Research, 5, 267-278.

Please cite as:

Sainsbury K.A., Morgan W.H., Watson M., Rotem G., Bouskila A., Smith R.K. & Sutherland W.J. (2021) Reptile Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for reptiles. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Reptile Conservation

Related Actions

Actions	Effectiveness	Studies	Category
Retain buoys and lines at the sea floor or riverbed when not hauling Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Set gillnets perpendicular to the shore Action Link	No evidence found (no assessment)	0	Synopsis Link
Promote knowledge exchange between fishers to improve good practice Action Link	Awaiting assessment	1	Synopsis Link