IN THIS ISSUE

Marine Conservation News launch

Coral Bleaching

"Save the Turtle" March

Whale Shark News & Workshop

FCO/BHC Grant

NOTICE BOARD

Whale Shark Sightings in Jan-Apr 2003

Coping with the Effects of Climate Change and Coral Bleaching

	Coral bleaching. Photo B. Wendling

 In early 1998 Seychelles suffered an extended period of raised seatemperatures for 3-4 months; these climatic events have since been related to the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Temperatures in Seychelles waters were elevated to 30-32 degrees centigrade with little evidence of a thermocline down to depths of 20 metres.
  The coral species in our waters are not adapted to these temperatures and in response undergo a process of “bleaching” whereby ....

Full article>>

“Save the Turtle” March

Marchers in Victoria. Photo J. Mortimer

The theme for this year’s international World Environment Day was on the availability of fresh water resources. However, the Ministry of Environment decided to focus on "Save the Turtles" instead, repeating last years theme. The reason behind this was because a number of locally produced television programmes throughout last year had shown that the public were still under the misconception that there was no need to protect turtles in Seychelles. 
  The event was commemorated with a colourful "Save the Turtle" march on the 4th of June 2003.....

Full article>>

Whale Shark Monitoring Workshop

	Monitoring whale sharks goes national...Photo U. Engelhardt

The whale shark monitoring programme was started by volunteers in 1996 and under the auspices of the MCSS had been enlarged since 2001 with grant support from the Global Environmental Fund through the World Bank. The early monitoring programme soon gave indications that the whale sharks seen in Seychelles ranged far from Seychelles waters. 
   It was apparent that there was a need for enhanced data collection to enable the formulation of a national management plan and to allow informed decision making for a regional approach to whale shark conservation and management.  
   In light of this, MCSS held a national workshop on Whale Shark Monitoring in Seychelles on the 28th of May 2003.....

Full article>>

MCSS awarded grant from the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office

On Friday 6th June on behalf of MCSS, Chairman David Rowat  received a cheque of £25,000 from Fraser Wilson, the British High Commissioner to Seychelles representing the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office. The grant is for the development of a nationwide turtle data management system. 
  The timing of the presentation was particularly appropriate to launch this project as it was during the week of World Environment Day when Government had renewed its commitment to turtle conservation.

Full article>>

Workshop on Environmental Moorings

Environmental moorings were first brought into Seychelles in 2001 with a programme initiated by the MCSS and funded by the Dutch Trust Fund. This was extended by additional funding under the Global Environmental Facility funding of the Seychelles Marine Ecosystem Management Project.

  To date installation costs have been subsidised by grant funding as has a large proportion of the inspection and remedial maintenance carried out by the MCSS. In order to sustain an on-going programme input from stakeholders is necessary to identify weaknesses in the current system and to identify new areas for mooring placement and potential new partners for mooring management. To this end, MCSS organised a workshop on Environmental Mooring Buoys with the aims of.....  

Full article>>

Concern over Spawning Aggregations..
By Jan Robinson, SFA

Concerns over exploitation of aggregations. Photo D.Rowat

Many species of fish that we are familiar with, such as types of grouper (Vyey), emperor (Kapten), and rabbitfish (Kordonnyen), form huge aggregations to spawn at specific sites on a few occasions during the year.  Reef passes or promontories are favourite spawning sites as they allow for good spawn dispersal.  

The period over which reef fishes can spawn may be as little as two weeks per year and the numbers of fish aggregating over a small area of reef can vary from less than a hundred to many thousands......

Full article>>

IOSEA Turtle Agreement

	Critically endangered Hawksbill turtle. Photo D.Rowat

Six species of marine turtles are known to occur in the Indian Ocean and South East Asia . These are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered under the World Conservation Union’s Red List of Threatened Species. Internationally marine turtles have a high priority for conservation, being also listed under the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) amongst others. .....

Full article>>