
Critically endangered angel shark rescued from fishing net in Gökova Bay
Akdeniz Koruma Derneği (AKD), partners on the Endangered Landscapes Programme supported Gökova Bay to Cape Gelidonya project, have been involved…
July 7, 2023
Turkey
© Zafer Kizilkaya
Where the Central Aegean and the North East Levantine Seas meet, Mediterranean waters provide critical habitat for some of its most charismatic species, including sandbar sharks, loggerhead turtles and monk seals. These waters have long provided local people with sustainable livelihoods through fishing, but this traditional way of life is being threatened by illegal and unregulated fishing activity, damage from tourism and invasive species from the Red Sea. To achieve recovery of this essential seascape for native species in the face of climate change, this project is scaling up a successful pilot project to restore approximately 700km of vulnerable marine habitat along the Turkish Mediterranean coast. This is helping to re-establish ecosystem connectivity, provide space for habitat and species recovery, and strengthen the first line of defence against invasive species.
The project area straddles the meeting of two Ecologically and Biologically Sensitive Areas (EBSAs) in the Mediterranean Basin: the Central Aegean Sea and the North East Levantine Sea.
Dotted throughout this project area are important pockets of intact seagrass beds and coralligenous habitats, which provide a home for some of the Mediterranean’s rarest and most iconic species including monk seals, sandbar sharks, loggerhead turtles and sperm whales, important commercial fish species such as dusky grouper and bluefin tuna, and migratory sea birds.
Despite its ecological interest, the Mediterranean Basin is vulnerable to irrecoverable habitat and species loss. As global sea temperatures rise, an increasing number of invasive marine species are entering the Mediterranean from the Red Sea via the Suez Canal – 900 invasive species have already been recorded. The number of native species is dwindling as unregulated fishing activity and unsustainable tourism erode ecosystem functionality and damage the habitat on which these species depend. These activities are also reducing numbers of the predatory species that currently help keep invasive species in check.
Local communities have already been seriously affected by these changes to marine life; over the last 15 years, there has been a sharp decrease in catch size and number of target species, much to the detriment of the livelihoods of nearly 70,000 people living in the area who depend on an intact marine ecosystem.
A pilot marine habitat restoration project in nearby Gökova Bay has, however, yielded exciting results. In just five years, there has been significant recovery of habitat and fish stocks, an increase in fishing incomes, reduced abundance of invasive species and the return of predatory sandbar sharks and Mediterranean monk seals. This project is scaling up this successful model along approximately 700km of vulnerable Turkish Mediterranean coast.
This project is removing barriers to the recovery of marine ecosystem from Gökova Bay to Cape Gelidonya, triggering the revival of healthy ecosystem processes. A fully functioning ecosystem which keeps invasive species in check will generate sustainable benefits for local people and increase resilience to climate change.
To achieve its aims, the project has:
Watch an introduction to the Gökova Bay to Cape Gelidonya project below:
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