Solomon Star 16 May 12;
A report on the national assessment of dolphin stock in the country will be presented this week.
This will happen during a two days workshop which starts tomorrow in Honiara.
The workshop will bring local and international participants and will be held at the Heritage Park Hotel.
The Solomon Islands government through the ministry of environment, climate change, disaster management and meteorology and the ministry of fisheries and marine resources will be presenting this report on the national dolphin assessment and survey 2009-2011.
A statement from the ministry of environment said the workshop will lead to the development of a national management plan for dolphin (Cetaceans) based on the report and collective views of interested and important sectors which involved both local and international.
"This will be important for the future of dolphin management in the country taking into account its traditional implication, national effort to manage this species as required under relevant regional and international obligations."
Delegations from overseas have started arriving yesterday with more today for the workshop tomorrow.
A number of local and international speakers will also be making presentations at the workshop.
Objectives of the workshop are;
To report on the population status of dolphin in Solomon Islands from the national assessment 2009-2010;
Outline and draft the national management and development plan for dolphins in the country;
Provide specific recommendations for the sustainable management of dolphins through national quota and captive breeding management in the country;
To identify priority activities for the implementation of management plan, including development of work plan, timely reporting to relevant authorities, resource mobilization and identification of the ministries' needs and priorities;
Provide overview of dolphin takes history in Solomon Islands, specifically on traditional drive-hunts, live capture for export, general biology of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin; Tursiops aduncus and general threats to cetaceans important for future dolphin conservation and management.
By MOFFAT MAMU
