Shark Week 2023
Sharks and Rays Indicate Ecosystem Health in Mozambique
By Dave van Beuningen | July 26, 2023
While the East Coast of Africa, including the shorelines of Mozambique, contain some of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the world, the outlook for sharks and rays and the ecological role they play is in question.
In 2019, Mozambique joined the High Ambition Coalition, which pledges to protect at least 30 percent of land and sea by 2030, with the government aiming to protect 10 percent of the country’s marine area as soon as possible, and that may provide an opportunity for increased protection of important shark and ray habitats.
Mozambique’s goal to protect 10 percent of the country’s marine area may provide an opportunity for increased protection of important shark and ray habitats.
The Mozambican Ministry of Land and Environment and the Ministry of Sea, Interior Waters and Fisheries are committed to expanding the national network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Mozambique for the conservation of sharks, rays, and other marine species. In partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), these ministries aim to support marine conservation activities and the sustainable use of biological resources along the Mozambican coast.
A proposed sustainable-use MPA in northern Mozambique (the Memba-Mossuril MPA) is being explored, which would cover an area of at least 1,000 km2, and potentially up to 7,000 km2. The objective of the MPA is to enhance priority biodiversity and ecosystem services to increase the resilience of vulnerable local communities to the impacts of climate change while promoting resource-based livelihoods, especially fisheries.
A proposed sustainable-use MPA in northern Mozambique (the Memba-Mossuril MPA) is being explored, which would cover an area of at least 1,000 km2, and potentially up to 7,000 km2.
As this area of northern Mozambique is largely understudied, baseline surveys were initiated in 2022 to comprehensively assess the ecological value and conditions of the proposed MPA, with sharks and rays forming a key component of this survey as they act as indicators of ecosystem health. Baited remote underwater video (BRUV) surveys were conducted by the WCS Mozambique team to determine which shark and ray species are in the area.
During 220 hours of BRUV footage only seven individuals from six species were recorded, highlighting a significant depletion of shark and ray populations in northern Mozambique’s inshore waters, primarily due to overfishing.
However, this work provides an important baseline from which to measure the success of conservation and fishery management activities in the area, which aim to reverse this trend by ensuring that shark and ray populations rebound, to support healthy ecosystems and ensure that fishers have access to sustainable fisheries in the future.
Through the implementation of appropriate species-specific protection measures, reducing fisheries mortality, and enforcing conservation measures, these valuable marine species can be safeguarded and the rich biodiversity of Mozambique’s coastal waters can be preserved for the benefit of the environment and the people that depend on it.
The MPA activities form part of the Blue Future project, funded by the Blue Action Fund and other international donors such as Oceans 5, Margaret A. Cargill Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Tiffany Foundation.
Through the implementation of appropriate species-specific protection measures, these valuable marine species can be safeguarded and the rich biodiversity of Mozambique’s coastal waters can be preserved.
The shark and ray research is part of a broader project funded by the Shark Conservation Fund (a project of the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors) to improve the conservation status of sharks and rays in the southwest Indian Ocean.
Dave van Beuningen is Associate Conservation Biologist of the Western Indian Ocean Shark and Ray Conservation Program at WCS.
