Rafid Shidqi, CSP class of 2021, founder of Thresher Shark Indonesia, and a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University, is the lead author on a new paper, “Identifying spatial movements and residency of pelagic thresher sharks (Alopias pelagicus) using satellite and passive acoustic telemetry to inform local conservation in central Indonesia,” published in Frontiers in Fish Science.
Research results suggest that area-based protection can be an effective nearshore conservation tool to protect the sharks against bycatch by industrial fisheries. Shidqi says, “This research was completed during my time in the Coastal Science and Policy Program at UC Santa Cruz, in which I got the opportunity to test the feasibility of employing a telemetry approach to the elusive and endangered pelagic thresher shark (Alopias pelagicus). The pelagic thresher shark is a target of small-scale local communities and is often the bycatch in many industrial large-scale fisheries in Indonesia. However, they are relatively understudied, and information is limited to motivate any science-driven conservation measures. Telemetry studies have never been applied to the species because it is generally hard to encounter live specimens in the wild. My studies through CSP have tested the feasibility of using this approach and with the collaboration of local shark fishers in Alor Island, Indonesia. I believe for science to be meaningful, it needs to be designed with extensive local knowledge and ensure it’s intended to answer specific and urgent conservation matters. Our research was designed with the ‘ask’ of local stakeholders of Alor to improve their current conservation practice and was conducted with extensive local collaboration, including with fishers who target them. Finally, the results need to be communicated so that the results from science, can be integrated towards policy change.”