Scientific Basis for the Development of a Payment for Marine Environmental Services Program Focused on Ray Conservation and the Management of Artisanal Fisheries in the State of São Paulo

• Grant number: 24/15345-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2024
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology - Applied Zoology
• Principal Investigator: Fabio dos Santos Motta
• Grantee: Caio Ribeiro Pimentel
• Host Institution: Instituto do Mar (IMar). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus Baixada Santista. Santos , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/11845-3 - Planning a payment system for marine environmental services: science seeking to transform the trajectory of rays in synergy with artisanal fishermen and recreational divers on the coast of São Paulo, AP.BTA.R

Abstract

Rays are important mesopredators in the marine ecosystem. By controlling the population of their prey, they ensure the genetic quality of biodiversity and the health of the oceans. Rays are also a source of protein and income for fishing communities, as well as being among the favorite marine animals for recreational divers to observe. Although they are caught by various types of fisheries, rays are particularly susceptible to overfishing due to their intrinsic biological characteristics. Against this backdrop, rays are among the most endangered groups of vertebrates on the planet (36% of species), making them priority targets for research and conservation actions in Latin America and worldwide. Considering that coastal areas act as nurseries for many species of rays and that they tend to have a higher post-capture survival rate, especially due to the way they ventilate their gills, we believe that a financial incentive program for good fishing practices, including the release of endangered species caught incidentally, could contribute to the conservation of elasmobranchs and mitigate conflicts between fishermen and conservation policies. Against this backdrop, the project aims to generate fundamental scientific support for the development of a payment for environmental service (PES) program focused on ray conservation and fisheries management. The proposal has the following research fronts: i. testing citizen science as a method for evaluating the effectiveness of the PES system; ii. economic valuation through the willingness to pay of recreational divers and the willingness to receive of beach trawler fishermen; The initiative hopes to produce the scientific basis for co-constructing a PES arrangement that is unprecedented in Brazil.