Field Informatics for Co-existence between Human Beings and Endangered Species: Sea Turtles, Mekong Giant Catfish and Dugongs

Author(s):  
Nobuaki Arai
Oryx ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-119
Author(s):  
Robin Sharp

Human beings have been making (and almost certainly trading in) ivory artefacts for some 10,000 years. Yet it is only 8 years since the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) placed a complete ban on international trade in elephant products by listing the African elephant Loxodonta africana on Appendix I at Lausanne in 1989. Nevertheless, at the 10th Conference of the Parties to CITES in Harare this coming June, the listing will be challenged again by three of the Southern African countries who originally opposed it. This article describes what has happened on the ground since 1989, the political developments, examines the downlisting proposals, and looks at possible ways forward in the short- and medium-term. The views expressed are personal to the author.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abel Valdivia ◽  
Shaye Wolf ◽  
Kieran Suckling

AbstractThe U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the world’s strongest environmental law protecting imperiled plants and animals, and a growing number of marine species have been protected under this law as extinction risk in the oceans has increased. Marine mammals and sea turtles comprise 36% of the 161 ESA-listed marine species, yet analyses of recovery trends after listing are lacking. Here we gather the best available annual population estimates for all marine mammals (n=33) and sea turtles (n=29) listed under the ESA as species. Of these, we quantitatively analyze population trends, magnitude of population change, and recovery status for representative populations of 23 marine mammals and 9 sea turtles, which were listed for more than five years, occur in U.S. waters, and have data of sufficient quality and span of time for trend analyses. Using generalized linear and non-linear models, we found that 78% of marine mammals (n=18) and 78% of sea turtles (n=7) significantly increased after listing; 13% of marine mammals (n=3) and 22% of sea turtles (n=2) showed non-significant changes; while 9% of marine mammals (n=2), but no sea turtles declined after ESA protection. Overall, species with populations that increased in abundance were listed for 20 years or more (e.g., large whales, manatees, and sea turtles). Conservation measures triggered by ESA listing such as ending exploitation, tailored species management, and fishery regulations, among others, appear to have been largely successful in promoting species recovery, leading to the delisting of some species and to increases in most. These findings underscore the capacity of marine mammals and sea turtles to recover from substantial population declines when conservation actions under the ESA are implemented in a timely and effective manner.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (9) ◽  
pp. 1369-1372
Author(s):  
Hiromichi Mitamura ◽  
Yasushi Mitsunaga ◽  
Nobuaki Arai ◽  
Yukiko Yamagishi ◽  
Metha Khachaphichat ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 194008291986948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poompat Phadphon ◽  
Thitapa Amontailak ◽  
Napatsakorn Kotchantuek ◽  
Suparat Srithawong ◽  
Wibhu Kutanan ◽  
...  

Previous genetic investigations of the Mekong giant catfish ( Pangasianodon gigas Chevey, 1913) and striped catfish ( Pangasianodon hypophthalmus Sauvage, 1878) provided discordant results. Here, we sequenced mitochondrial (mt) DNA of the cytochrome B region, and a control region, to characterize the genetic variation of P. gigas, P. hypophthalmus, and hybrids of these two species. Among the three groups, P. hypophthalmus had the greatest diversity in both regions, yet all three studied groups showed lower genetic diversity compared to the results of previous studies. The Bayesian Skyline Plots showed a reduction in effective population sizes of the parental species. The hybrids were found to have a constant population size with a recent divergence time. As expected, the network and neighbor joining tree showed a close maternal genetic relationship between the hybrid and P. hypophthalmus, a reflection of the breeding between male P. gigas and female P. hypophthalmus. Our results provide genetic information on these endangered fish that will be useful for both conservation and commercial breeding programs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ayano Medo ◽  
Hideaki Nishizawa ◽  
Ayako Yokoyama ◽  
Manabu Kume ◽  
Yasushi Mitsunaga ◽  
...  

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