It's still cool at five in the morning. Ahmet "Charlie" Orhan steers his small boat across the glassy Mediterranean waters, glowing pink in the early morning light. He's heading for his fishing nets, laid the night before just off the rocky shoreline, and now hopefully full of fish. All around the Mediterranean, thousands more fishermen are similarly fetching the night's catch. But although the scene is timeless, today is a special day for Charlie and the other fishermen from the small town of Aydincik, Turkey. Today the governor will open the new shop of their fishery cooperative — the latest achievement in ongoing work that's giving the fishermen, and the endangered Mediterranean monk seal, a better chance for survival. Charlie is the archetypal fisherman. With skin browned by a life in the sun and bright sparkling eyes, he's a mine of knowledge about the local marine environment. And like artisanal fishermen around the world, he's concerned about declining numbers of fish. "In the 1980s, there were so many fish," he says. "But now we don't see the same number or variety." The culprits are trawlers. These boats, which come from bigger cities and whose huge nets indiscriminately catch everything that crosses their path, are not supposed to fish closer than 3 miles from shore. The inshore area is reserved for artisanal fishermen like Charlie — locals who set a small number of nets to supply their town with fish. But as they have fished out the deeper water, trawlers have — illegally — come closer and closer to shore over the past 20 years. "We've always had the same number of fishermen in Aydincik," says Ahmet Ali Safak, head of Aydincik's fishery cooperative, "but we never saw any decrease in fish until the trawlers and other large fishing boats started to come." Fewer fish is bad news for fishermen. It's also bad news for the Mediterranean monk seal. These shy animals once lived in colonies along the coasts of the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic Ocean from Portugal to Senegal. But today they are one of the rarest mammals in the world. Only 500 remain, scattered between Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Western Sahara, Mauritania, and the Madeira Islands. Those in Greece and Turkey are restricted to islands and remote coastlines, living either alone or in groups of 2–3. "Monk seals prefer undisturbed rocky areas with caves," explains Yalcin Savas, Head of Conservation at SAD-AFAG, a Turkish group that works with WWF on monk seal conservation issues. "The caves are particularly important for young seals. It's here that they are born, safe from storms and other dangers. Here too they begin to explore and receive training from adult seals. As the Mediterranean coast has become built up and polluted from industrial shipping, monk seals have lost much of their habitat." Hunting and habitat loss were the initial causes of their decline. A more recent problem is food shortages. "We have evidence that the seals suffer from osteoporosis, a disease that weakens the bones," says Yalcin. "This indicates that they probably suffer from a chronic lack of food." Monk seals eat octopus, cuttlefish, and fish — the same seafood that people like. This puts them in direct competition with fishermen for the same limited food supply. "The declining fish stocks hurt the monk seals in several ways," says Yalcin. "They suffer from starvation and reduced breeding success, and also, some fishermen kill the seals in retaliation for 'stealing' fish from their nets. On top of this, young monk seals sometimes become trapped in fishing nets and drown." Ironically, this conflict is now working to help both survive. Since 1995, Aydincik's fishermen have been working with SAD-AFAG and WWF to protect the monk seal and at the same time improve their livelihood. One part of the work is to increase fish stocks and protect monk seal habitat. The fishermen and SAD-AFAG scientists have together created two no-fishing zones around monk seal breeding caves, and two more have been proposed. "Our research has shown that fish stocks are already increasing in and around the no-fishing zones," says Yalcin. "I can see this — the fish are getting bigger and there are more," agrees Charlie. "And we've only just started!" A second part of the work is to keep trawlers out of artisanal fishing areas. "Normally the coast guard would be responsible for this," says Yalcin. "But in Aydincik there's a gap in the system." To overcome this, SAD-AFAG and WWF have provided the fishery cooperative with a patrol boat. "We can't arrest illegal fishermen," explains Omer Demiryurek, the proud volunteer captain of the boat. "But we prepare reports for the marine police who can then take action. We also encourage people in the area to report any illegal fishing activities." The patrol boat is proving an effective deterrent — although trawlers still come close to shore, it happens less often now. The third part of the work is being celebrated today: the official opening of the fishery cooperative's new shop. Cooperatives are a key part of SAD-AFAG's work. Jointly owned by the local fishermen, they pay a fair price for the fish, and then sell it on to customers. This gives the fishermen a more stable source of income — without a cooperative they have to sell the fish to outside dealers, who don't always pay. In addition, cooperatives give the fishermen more strength, for example to lobby for reforms such as banning undesirable fishing practises. Charlie and other motivated fishermen have been working since 2002 to revive Aydincik's fishery cooperative, which had been idle for some years after management problems. With help from WWF and SAD-AFAG, the cooperative cleared the debt owed by the previous management and bought a new deep freezer. The shop has been redesigned and repaired, and is now ready for business. At 11.30, the fishermen and their families have gathered for the opening ceremony in front of the shop, opposite Aydincik's small harbour. With the sun blazing and the temperature now at 40oC, everyone is sheltering in the shade of the few trees. The ceremony is short — it's far too hot for long speeches. The governor and mayor say a few words and then the ribbon is cut and everyone surges in to have a look. But despite the simplicity of the ceremony, it's a significant day for the fishermen. They are full of thanks to SAD-AFAG and WWF for the support they have received, and deservedly proud of what they have achieved. They're also very happy about the recognition they're getting from the mayor and governor. "We are only a small town," says Ahmet. "But our fishermen are helping to save the marine environment, and more and more people know about this. I am sure we will succeed." They are also enthusiastic about the future — both theirs and the monk seal's. "With the cooperative, our income and quality of life will go up," says Ahmet. "Before, no one knew there was a fish market in Aydincik. But now people from other towns know they can get fish at any time from our shop. And with the no-fishing zones, there will be enough fish for us and the monk seals." The conservationists are also very happy. "If Turkey and Greece can protect their monk seals, the species will survive," says Yalcin. "Aydincik's fishermen — and other fishermen throughout Turkey — are making this happen. They see that efforts to save the monk seal also directly help them. They have become true guardians of the monk seal." And what does Charlie want from the future? "I've always fought for the environment — if we hurt nature, we hurt ourselves. I want everyone to think like us, and work together to protect our world." * Emma Duncan is Managing Editor at WWF International. Further information Foca: a success story SAD-AFAG and WWF's longest-running project, in Foca in the Aegean Sea, has been tremendously successful. Working together, the town's fishermen, SAD-AFAG, and WWF convinced the Turkish government to ban large scale fishery in Foca in 1992, and to ban beach-seine fishery along Turkey’s Aegean and the Mediterranean coasts in 2001. A no-fishing zone was established on the Karaburun Peninsular, and illegal fishing activities were successfully stopped. As a result, monk seal sightings in the area have increased five-fold, pups have been born in areas where there had been no births for many years, and today, monk seals are even sleeping on open beaches. The fishermen remain active guardians of the seals, reporting activities such as illegal construction and pollution that threaten the coastal environment. Mediterranean monk seals The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is one of the six most- threatened mammal species in the world. According to recent estimates, there are about 300 monk seals in the Mediterranean, almost all occurring in the eastern part. Turkey's Cilician coast, where Aydincik is located, is home to 24 monk seals. Mediterranean monk seals favour areas with caves where they live and breed, and also need a healthy marine environment. In recent years, they have suffered from a loss of habitat due to urbanization, development of secondary homes, and from mass tourism. Their marine environment is threatened by pollution, and their food source is threatened by overfishing. The survival of the monk seal is intricately linked with the conservation of a healthy marine and coastal environment. WWF and SAD-AFAG's work on monk seals SAD-AFAG (The Underwater Research Society - Mediterranean Seal Research Group) is a Turkish conservation organization that has been working with fishermen in Turkey since 1991 to protect the monk seal and at the same time, help artisanal fishermen. WWF's Mediterranean Programme works with and supports SAD-AFAG through an EU-funded project. The work is currently being carried out in two sites along the Turkish coast: the Karaburun Peninsula in the Aegean (Foca; see above) and the Cilician coast in the Mediterranean (Aydincik, Mellec, and Kizilliman). The work has six main areas: ‧ increasing the capacity of local fishermen and help organize them under cooperatives ‧ establishing no-fishing zones around all monk seal breeding caves in Turkey ‧ fighting illegal fishing activities ‧ monitoring monk seals and identifying their breeding caves ‧ monitoring the recovery of fish stocks in no-fishing zones ‧ increasing public awareness of monk seal conservation WWF also works on monk seal conservation in Greece and Mauritania. Aydincik and the Cilician coast Located roughly halfway along Turkey's Mediterranean coast, the Cilician Basin is home to many marine species, most of which are endangered or rare. In addition to the Mediterranean monk seal, these include loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus longispinus), and long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus ramulosus). The region also has two globally threatened habitats: fragile calcareous red seaweed reefs (Lithophyllum species), and meadows of the endemic seagrass Posidonia (Posidonia oceanica). Aydincik has been an ancient town of commerce since 2000 BC. The major income of the 8,000 inhabitants comes from agriculture and artisanal fishing. There are about 20 fishermen, with 16 boats. The Mediterranean Sea is one of WWF's Global 200 Ecoregions — a science- based global ranking of the world's most biologically outstanding habitats and the regions on which WWF concentrates its efforts. -- 前陣子才寫過的 瀕臨絕種的 Mediterranean monk seal 後續發展文 保育大進展!!! 好文章 不過有夠長 下次再慢慢翻 @_@ -- Think, talk, feel. And life will be different. --

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