Community-based approach to Indigenous harvest of threatened marine wildlife

Turtles and dugongs are integral to the culture, economy and diet of Torres Strait Islander and coastal Aboriginal communities in northern Australia.

The distribution and abundance of dugongs and some species of sea turtle are reduced in many parts of their ranges, with some populations close to extinction. Globally, the dugong is now listed as a species vulnerable to extinction, while the green turtle is listed as endangered. Despite being legally protected in most countries, many dugong and turtle populations are declining, with hunting often a contributing cause. For example, population estimates based on a 20-year time series of aerial surveys for dugongs in the northern Great Barrier Reef region and Torres Strait conducted by JCU researchers suggest that Indigenous dugong harvests in these regions are not sustainable.

JCU researchers led by Professor Helene Marsh, Dr Mark Hamann and Dr Ivan Lawler have studied the conservation science of dugongs and turtles over many years. Their advice to government and Indigenous communities has helped shape new strategies to conserve these culturally-important species. Crucial to the turtle and dugong conservation research has been a partnership with Indigenous communities in Torres Strait, Cape York and the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Indigenous Australians have provided expert assistance, acting as observers on aerial surveys to determine dugong distribution and abundance, assisting with catch monitoring and specimen collection, facilitating community workshops and representing their communities at national and international conferences.

Effectively managing dugong and turtle stocks requires ownership and implementation by Indigenous communities. PhD research by Melissa Nursey-Bray and Jillian Grayson has informed the development of processes for community-based management and monitoring of dugong and turtle harvesting.

Another PhD student, Alana Grech, is using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a basis for developing community-based Decision Support Systems integrating western science with Indigenous knowledge. She has also trained more than 90 of Torres Strait Indigenous communities in GIS techniques.

Mariana Fuentes’ PhD is investigating the impact of climate change on green turtles. Kristen Weiss is investigating ways to overcome the mismatch between geopolitical scales of management and the ecological scales at which dugongs and turtle populations operate. Aurelié DeLisle is investigating the social and economic values associated with the Indigenous harvest of dugongs and turtles under the supervision of Dr Natalie Stoeckl from JCU’s School of Business and Professor Marsh.

Complementary research by Professor Paul Havemann and Dominique Thiriet from JCU’s School of Law has established a legal framework for reconciling the traditional rights of Indigenous peoples to hunt dugongs and turtles with the obligations of Commonwealth and State governments under international treaties and Commonwealth and State laws.

Reconciling these rights and obligations means recognising the need to empower Indigenous people to engage in the conservation process. The legal framework provides an exemplar for other parts of the world to show how the traditional rights of Indigenous peoples may be reconciled with the need for government to regulate in areas such as conservation by adopting a cooperative approach that empowers communities.

This approach is embodied in the Australian government’s National Partnership arrangements for managing dugong and turtle hunting. JCU PhD graduate Dr Donna Kwan, a former member of this research group, is taking a leading role in implementing this policy.

Contact: Professor Helene Marsh

P: 07 4781 5575