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<p>The conservation of Cameroon’s marine biodiversity is hindered by knowledge gaps and ineffective management, endangering both marine ecosystems and their human-dependent communities. Moreover, conducting research on marine megafauna off the West Coast of Africa is hindered by high costs and reduced expertise capacity regionally. To address these concerns, a citizen science project was initiated along the Cameroon coastline in 2015, with over 80 fishers recording observations of aquatic species in their landings and during their fishing activities using the Siren app. Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), which are caught both as targeted and as incidental catch in Cameroon’s predominantly small-scale, artisanal fisheries, emerged as a primary focus of these records. Between 2015 and 2023, Siren data showed that threatened elasmobranchs are the most commonly landed megafauna off Cameroon, representing about 93% of the total aquatic megafauna sightings and landings records (<i>n</i> = 4077 records) through the Siren app (<i>n</i> = 4401). To complement these data, dedicated fish market surveys (<i>n</i> = 205&#xa0;days) were conducted at key landing sites (<i>n</i> = 23) in Cameroon from 2019 to the end of 2023. Through fish market surveys and the Siren dataset, a total of 7093 elasmobranch specimens were recorded, comprising 45 species, 13 of which are categorised as Critically Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Of most concern are the scalloped hammerhead shark <i>Sphyrna lewini</i> (37.5% of total shark landings) and the blackchin guitarfish <i>Glaucostegus cemiculus</i> (25.1% of total ray landings). Additionally, a number of endemic species (i.e. the daisy whipray <i>Fontitrygon margarita</i> and the pearl whipray <i>Fontitrygon margaritella</i>) or potentially restricted populations of rare species (i.e. the Atlantic pygmy devil ray <i>Mobula hypostoma</i>) were recorded, highlighting urgent conservation needs. This study shows that combining citizen science with dedicated fish market surveys can play an essential role in filling knowledge gaps for data-poor small-scale fisheries, and to identify effective management strategies in low-income countries.</p>

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Shining a light on Cameroon's elasmobranch fisheries: insights from citizen science and market surveys highlight a conservation priority

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年12月9日

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  • Ghofrane Labyedh,
  • Betty Laglbauer,
  • Cedrick Fogwan,
  • Cedric Biankeu,
  • Guy Mengoue,
  • Guy M. W. Stevens,
  • Laurent Sanchez,
  • Aristide Takoukam Kamla

摘要

The conservation of Cameroon’s marine biodiversity is hindered by knowledge gaps and ineffective management, endangering both marine ecosystems and their human-dependent communities. Moreover, conducting research on marine megafauna off the West Coast of Africa is hindered by high costs and reduced expertise capacity regionally. To address these concerns, a citizen science project was initiated along the Cameroon coastline in 2015, with over 80 fishers recording observations of aquatic species in their landings and during their fishing activities using the Siren app. Elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), which are caught both as targeted and as incidental catch in Cameroon’s predominantly small-scale, artisanal fisheries, emerged as a primary focus of these records. Between 2015 and 2023, Siren data showed that threatened elasmobranchs are the most commonly landed megafauna off Cameroon, representing about 93% of the total aquatic megafauna sightings and landings records (n = 4077 records) through the Siren app (n = 4401). To complement these data, dedicated fish market surveys (n = 205 days) were conducted at key landing sites (n = 23) in Cameroon from 2019 to the end of 2023. Through fish market surveys and the Siren dataset, a total of 7093 elasmobranch specimens were recorded, comprising 45 species, 13 of which are categorised as Critically Endangered on the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Of most concern are the scalloped hammerhead shark Sphyrna lewini (37.5% of total shark landings) and the blackchin guitarfish Glaucostegus cemiculus (25.1% of total ray landings). Additionally, a number of endemic species (i.e. the daisy whipray Fontitrygon margarita and the pearl whipray Fontitrygon margaritella) or potentially restricted populations of rare species (i.e. the Atlantic pygmy devil ray Mobula hypostoma) were recorded, highlighting urgent conservation needs. This study shows that combining citizen science with dedicated fish market surveys can play an essential role in filling knowledge gaps for data-poor small-scale fisheries, and to identify effective management strategies in low-income countries.