This project aims to improve the knowledge of the population of the Mediterranean monk seal at the eastern Mediterranean, monitoring their populations, contributing to the identification of critical habitat and creating or impulse conservation actions that would mitigate the negative interactions between fishermen and the species. Including bycatch and predation of fishing nets.

Background:

The Mediterranean monk seal is catalogued as endangered by the IUCN and its estimated population worldwide is of less than 700 animals. Greece, Cyprus and Turkey still maintain a large population of the species, with around 350-450 individuals. Even if considered as one, the reality is that this population is the sum of an unknown number of isolated subpopulations. Each partner is developing activities to better improve the knowledge and protection of the species but not in a common framework, even if it is true that some cooperation already exists. Therefore, even if information about the animals exists with several catalogues and capture/recapture information, little is known about the entire population structure and the viability of all the subpopulations. Hence, it is important to create a common baseline of knowledge from where develop a long-term monitoring that could better define the population structure, its trend, and threats. To do so, the project needs to identify potential future areas where the monk seals could spread in the near future, improve the knowledge of the species first, by targeting the areas where breeding is still happening, or important haul out areas and define the indicators for a common long term monitoring.

The project will as well, evaluate the fishing impact and the interaction fisheries-monk seal. It will focus in better define which areas are the most likely to have the negative monk seal-fishermen interactions (not only bycatch but predation from nets as well).

Main objective:

The final objective is to have a better perspective of the targeted monk seal population and its conflict with fisheries with all entities collaborating towards the same objective using the same methodology.