Diving Deep: Will Heyman Works To Protect Reefs

The conservation of marine ecosystems through the relationships of people and their environments has been an ongoing study for Will Heyman, associate professor of geography at Texas A&M University. More recently, his research has focused on reef fish spawning aggregations with an effort to both conserve and manage them.

Liam Carr, a first year Ph.D student focusing on a conservation-minded technique of overseeing tropical fisheries, has also worked with Heyman.

“[W]hen [Heyman] described his approach to research and the need to be a responsible advocate not only for fish but also people, it felt like an absolutely perfect fit for what I’ve been pursuing since I started college,” Carr said. “I’ve always been trying to link humans to the natural world and ask if we can develop responsible behaviors that provide economic benefits without destroying the planet in the process.”

The Nature Conservancy sent Heyman to Belize in 1994 to research marine ecosystems in the vicinity as a way to further a conservation project, focused on creating a marine protected area that would help to sustain local aquatic resources.

“We need to protect coral reefs and nursery grounds and we need to limit or prevent pollution from impacting the ecosystem,” Carr said.

Local populations need more control over the resources they utilize. Greater jurisdiction would strengthen stewardship among indigenous people because they are dependent on aquatic ecosystems to sustain life.

“The idea is that by increasing the participation of the fishers throughout the management process, you will generate a sense of ownership and stewardship within the fishing community for their resources,” Carr said. “They’ve seen the changes and they have a strong incentive to be on the leading edge of conservation because it affects their livelihoods and families.”

While working on the conservation effort in Belize, Heyman discovered and documented for the first time that whale sharks feed on fish eggs. Before this discovery, people had witnessed the thousands of cubera snappers breeding in the water, seen the mass of white eggs and semen, and noticed the whale shark’s presence, but never made the connection.

“The paper that we published in Marine Ecology Progress series in 2001 documented scientifically for the first time that whale sharks were eating the spawn of fish eggs,” Heyman said. “We came up with that explanation of a phenomenon that people had seen, but not understood.”

Whale sharks, one of the largest fish in the sea are filter feeders. They migrate between areas of high food density. The whale sharks are only prevalent in these areas during the spawning season, most commonly during April and May.

During his research Heyman uses scientists from a variety of fields, but also values the expertise of local populations.

“My whole approach has always been that people that live in a place understand it really well and should be involved intimately in any kind of science that tries to address those types of places,” said Dr. Heyman.

Local fishermen are pivotal to Heyman’s research. Fishermen are directly involved in his inquiries because they are useful sources of information that help to shape the very questions he asks.

“If you want to understand how the ecosystem works, you talk to the fishermen,” said Heyman.

Heyman, with the help of Eloy Cuevas, a hired guide, also discovered the presence of multispecies spawning aggregations at the Gladden Spit reef.

“To me ecologically, the phenomenon of all these fish coming from all these little places, and all these different species, that is really important if we care about conserving fish,” said Heyman.

The Nassau grouper, a currently endangered species is another fish seen in the spawning aggregations that has been targeted by fishers. The depletion of Nassau grouper will ultimately led to the extinction of other trophic fish levels.

“While I am concerned about the fate of that endangered species, to me they are the canary in the mine, the indicator, and they are a part of a much larger more interesting story – lots of different fish behave very similarly. What is important to me is what they represent in regards to that holistic system,” Heyman said.

Local populations are not the sole source of blame for endangered reef species, overfishing and pollution. A huge issue is that reefs are unguarded against fishermen from surrounding areas.

“Fisheries have long been open-access and there is little incentive for any one fisher to have a conservation ethic, since what they opt not to catch will just get caught by the next fisher,” Carr said.

Concerns about reef overexploitation and decreased fish populations led the Belize government to create the Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve in 2000.

“In the sites like Gladen that are well protected, [Nassau groupers] are coming back and in the areas where management is uneven they are still being depleted,” Heyman said.

The discovery of whale sharks and multispecies spawning aggregations also increased tourism in Belize. The documentation of the whale sharks habits and locations alone spiked a major ecotourism industry for the area. A six week period of the whale shark viewing season raised $3.7 million.

Heyman’s discovery of the spawning aggregations led both him and Carr to look at the effect of dive tourism on the spawning aggregations. Despite the economic benefits of increased tourism, viewing wildlife attractions can be just as detrimental as fishing in aquatic environments.

“Conservationists generally view tourism as an economically attractive alternative to fishing,” Carr said. “We need to be careful that we’re not trading one set of problems for another.”

Increased tourism needs to be monitored responsibly, with an emphasis on educating tourists for the benefit of preserving marine ecosystems.

“If we can educate divers and dive operations to dive responsibly and make every effort to give [spawning aggregations] their space while still being an incredible dive experience, then yes, we can develop tourism,” Carr said. “[Developing ecotourism] needs to be done incredibly cautiously and with an eye always focused on diver safety and reducing the risks of disturbing [spawning aggregations] as much as possible.”

Finding additional solutions to aid the conservation of marine ecosystems is crucial to the sustainability of our world.

“It is very important, vital, to manage, to preserve, conserve, and maintain these resources and habitats because they are such a large and important part of many ecosystems that effect life on Earth as a whole,” forestry graduate student Sheryl Strauch said.

Heyman’s research has been an excellent tool for marine conservationists and his work will continue to influence both the environment and local fishing populations for years to come.

“The real success is on the ground when communities use real science and work together in functional ways to live in harmony with their environment and you helped catalyze those relationships, but you’re gone, and they’re functional after you leave,” Heyman said. “And that’s what’s happening in Belize right now.