Important Shark and Ray Areas designated in the Seychelles

Research by Marine Futures Lab PhD candidate Nico Fassbender, funded by the Save Our Seas D’Arros Research Centre, has supported the recent designation of 3 Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA’s) across Seychelles Inner and Outer Islands. These designations were supported by the more than 600 deployments of BRUVS over the last two years across 7 island groups combined with incidental sightings data from SCUBA dives and snorkelling trips, collated by Global Vision International Seychelles. Records that supported the designations included Critically Endangered shark species such as the great hammerhead, whitespotted guitarfish, and the bowmouth guitarfish. These datasets lead to the designation of 2 Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA’s) in Seychelles Inner Islands around Baie Ternay and Conception Island, and 1 ISRA in Seychelles Amirantes Islands around D’Arros Island and the St. Joseph Atoll.

Whilst ISRAs are not marine parks in a traditional sense, they are an important first step in recognizing areas of conservation importance. ISRAs can directly feed into the creation, expansion, and implementation of new and existing marine protected areas with a focus on sharks and ray conservation.

Additionally, another 3 areas around Port Launay, Therese Island and a popular dive site on Northwest Mahé called ‘Shark Bank’ were labelled as areas of interest and highlighted as focal areas for future shark-focused research.