Holiday plans
A few weeks ago, my partner and I borrowed a van and made the 1,200 km journey to Bogliasco, on Italy’s north coast near Genoa.
Our destination wasn’t chosen by chance. Genoa is one of the main gateways to the Pelagos Sanctuary, the Mediterranean’s only internationally protected marine area dedicated to whales, dolphins and porpoises. Home to eight resident cetacean species, it has become one of Europe’s best places to encounter these remarkable animals in the wild. And we arrived full of optimism, hoping to spot; fin, sperm, and Cuvier’s beaked whales.
The Pelagos Sanctuary Agreement
The Pelagos Sanctuary developed a tuna driftnet fishing charter, to help maintain the local fisheries in a more environmentally sustainable way and reduce the incidence of accidental bycatch, which poses a significant threat to marine mammal life.
They also have a fantastic initiative to grow a network for real time cetacean monitoring to help anticipate the presence and paths of whales and dolphins along shipping routes. Alongside this, they have introduced a code of good practice to ensure that whale watching, for both scientific and recreational purposes to conform to a coherent set of less damaging practices
The pelagos agreements other strengths lie with its research. There have been vast improvements in scientific data regarding the presence, distribution, and habitat use of the eight resident cetacean species. And there has been a significant reduction in bycatch with the drift net bans. More broadly legislation that demonstrates a commitment to protecting marine wildlife lends positively to future perceptions of our human relationship to the oceans and all its inhabitants.
An imperfect set of policies
However, whilst the intent was undoubtedly positive and forward thinking, several reviews have argued that the sanctuary has struggled to translate policy into measurable conservation outcomes because enforcement and long-term evaluation has been inconsistent.
In the absence of clear metrics to evaluate the sanctuary’s success, a sense of complacency could begin to emerge, and over time could result in a loss of credibility and growing disillusionment with marine conservation projects. This is especially concerning when facing backlash from various powerful industries such as fishing, and the economic cost that must be burdened for ethical practice. Large industries tend to base their arguments in quantifiable, and less emotive reasoning.
As previously mentioned, enforcement has also been unreliable. Those responsible for implementing the agreements retain considerable discretion to grant exemptions from certain regulations. For example, speedboat races are still permitted within the protected zone, provided they receive the necessary approval. And despite the embargo against driftnets, French fisheries were found to still be using them in 2009 and escaped any real reprimand. Such exceptions can undermine the sanctuary’s objectives and weaken public confidence in its effectiveness, which could spill into perceptions of other proposals around the world.
Can marine reserves work
Reading about the Pelagos sanctuary project made me wonder whether protecting enormous areas is always the most effective strategy. An interesting comparison comes from Kenya, where researchers monitored two fisheries over 24 years.
One protected 30% of its waters through a fully protected no-take marine reserve, while the other relied mainly on restrictions on fishing gear. The results showed that the fishery with the marine protected area experienced a 42% increase in fish populations, and fishers’ daily catches per person increased twenty five times faster than in the fishery using gear restrictions alone. The researchers concluded that protecting part of a fishery allows fish populations to recover and reproduce, with adult fish and larvae spilling over into surrounding fishing grounds, benefiting both marine biodiversity and the long-term productivity of local fisheries.
A long-term case study like this has made me consider that whilst the milestone huge protection area of such a vast amount of ocean in the Pelagos sanctuary is undeniably a good thing for preservation of marine biodiversity, it may be more impactful to have stricter and more clearly defined restrictions across smaller zones across the oceans. And in doing so we can balance our human activity alongside restoring healthy and biodiverse ecosystems in a symbiotic way, benefitting marine life and the fishing industry alike. A combination of no take zones and further efforts in understanding, mapping, and human courtesy to allow species to thrive.
Did we see the whales?
Despite going on two separate boat trips at different times of day, we were not fortunate enough to spot a fin or sperm whale. However, we spent a lot of time in the company of striped, common, and spinner dolphins and got to witness them playing in the wake of the boat, I will share footage to our Instagram page soon. And on our sunset tour, we managed to see a mother and calf Cuvier beaked whale which was a very fortunate sighting as they hold the record for the deepest and longest dives of any marine mammal, reaching depths of 3,000m and incredible durations surpassing 220 minutes.
Although we never found the fin or sperm whales we’d travelled so far to see, watching a mother and calf Cuvier’s beaked whale surface together was a reminder of why places like the Pelagos Sanctuary matter. Conservation isn’t just about what we see on a single trip, but by whether future generations will still have the chance to witness moments like these.
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