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MarAlliance:

We are very pleased to share our latest publication on the first nation-wide survey and population estimate of the nurse shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum), which took place in Belize. The total nurse shark population of Belize is estimated in the range of 3,858 to 14,375 sharks and heavily reliant on coral reefs, which are under increasing threat from disease and climate change. In comparison, the human population of Belize numbers over 350,000. You can download and read our freely available paper here:
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/comments?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0256532

The results of our study are based on data collected over the course of five years across multiple sites on the Belize Barrier Reef, atolls and lagoon sites using multiple standardized methods. Due primarily to their importance for tourism, nurse sharks were protected in Belize in 2011 but remain at threat from poaching. Their populations take considerable time to recover from fishing as females do not reach maturity until at least 15 years of age.

The publication of this paper is also a heartfelt tribute to the late Zeddy Seymour, our former MSc student (University of Exeter) who jumped camp from turtles to sharks and collected much of the shark data in 2012 for his thesis, and subsequently took up the Country Coordinator position for MarAlliance in Cabo Verde, West Africa, in 2015, where he developed a tremendous shark and ray research and conservation program with strong buy in from fishers, government, NGO partners and businesses.

Thank you to Francesco Garzon who brought all data across the years and sites together for his MSc thesis (also with the University of Exeter) to the rest of our MarAlliance team, partner fishers from 5 coastal communities, colleagues with many NGOs and at the University of Exeter, and of course a huge thanks to our fantastic funders: Whitley Fund for Nature, Save our Species, Summit Foundation, Oak Foundation, the Mitchell Petersen Foundation and many individual supporters and donors who wish to remain anonymous. Thank you to the Belize Fisheries Department for extending research permits throughout the study years.