Volume 77
The role of Experiential Learning on Haitian fishing communities’ motivation to protect marine megafauna in Haiti’s Baraderes-Cayemite Marine Protected Area
Authors
Jamie Aquino, Francklin Barbier, Charlens Calixte, Myson Samedi Maxime Lazard, Cleeff Herman Fraymond Afta Joseph, and Courtney Vail Download PDF Open PDF in BrowserOther Information
Date: November, 2024
Event: Proceedings of the Seventy-Seventh Annual Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute
City: Gosier
Country: Guadeloupe, French West Indies
Abstract
The Baraderes/Cayemite area is a unique marine ecosystem located in both the Nippes and Grand’Anse Regions of Haiti. A key biodiversity area, this Marine Protected Area (MPA) was officially established in 2017 and is managed by Haiti’s National Protected Areas Agency (ANAP). The MPA is (87,621.5) hectares in size. Approximately 100,000 fishers, their families, and other locals reside in this area where fishing is the main source of food and income, along with agriculture and trade. This ecologically diverse area includes habitats like coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds that support a variety of marine life, including a deep-water nursery for critically endangered oceanic whitetip sharks, nesting sites for critically endangered sea turtle populations, endangered whale sharks and manatees, and the near threatened spotted eagle rays. Other marine megafauna species caught in this MPA include blunt nose six-gill shark, green sea turtle, short-finned pilot whale, Atlantic devil ray, yellow stingray and the scalloped hammerhead shark. The most common fishing methods used to catch and kill these marine megafauna species are gill nets, seine nets, traps, handline fishing, and spears. They are caught either as a victim of incidental bycatch or directed hunts.