Crossing Fishery Statistics with Marine Turtle Bycatch Data and Habitat Mapping in Martinique, FWI

Small scale fisheries in Martinique concern 1,300 fishermen for about 1,275 boats (6 - 8 m) and concentrate on the continental shelf where numerous commercial species are catchable. Among the gears used locally, bottom trammel nets and gillnets targeting fishes, queen conches and spiny lobsters are responsible for significant marine turtle catches. Bottom nets account for 20% of the total fishing gears with gillnets more used than trammel nets. The south Atlantic fleet and the north Caribbean fleet, where turtles’ bycatch is the most important, account respectively for 29% and 20% of the total fleet. The combination of the CPUE data with those of marine turtle abundance and marine habitat mapping has led 1) to the identification of experimental fishing areas to test new equipment targeting demersal reef resources, 2) to new orientation for policy development based on turtle ecology knowledge and 3) to a reflection on fisheries regulation to preserve marine turtles and marine resources.