Background:
Dr. Alex Hearn has spent over 20 years carrying out research for the conservation of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Galapagos is home to a small-scale commercial fishing sector made up of around 1,000 fishers. Fisheries management has been poor, and most resources are overexploited. This research aims to generate better biological information for some of the "forgotten species" including the slipper lobster, and to implement a transformative solution to fishing in Galapagos.
In 2006, Dr. Hearn pioneered shark research in the reserve by developing a partnership with the Galapagos National Park Directorate and tracking sharks at the islands for the first time. The team found that scalloped hammerhead sharks migrate between Galapagos and Cocos, among other findings. Over the years, they have identified shark nursery areas, migratory routes, and new hotspots. Dr. Hearn also led a scientific study in 2020 to justify expanding protection outside the reserve, which led to the creation of the Hermandad Reserve.
Mission:
The missions of this project are to understand the role of the Galapagos Marine Reserve for the protection of migratory sharks and to assess the less-studied species that are threatened by excessive local fishing, including the slipper lobster.
Objectives:
1. To contribute to a dataset of at least 100 deployments of stereoBRUVS in each of the 5 putative bioregions
2. To assess the population abundance and size structure of slipper lobsters at sites in comparison with 20 years ago
3. To understand the movements of pelagic sharks in relation to the protected areas of Hermandad and Galapagos
4. To close the migratory loop of whale sharks by tagging 5-10 individuals in the southern part of the reserve
5. To characterize the smooth hammerhead nursery ground and, based on this, predict other likely nursery grounds within the islands and on the south American coast.
Research Impact & Application:
Data collected will potentially help change regulations around slipper lobster fishing and inform regulations in shark nurseries and migration areas of the Galapagos Marine Reserve. Dr. Hearn also involves his students in the research, incorporates it in class material and talks, and leads a class and outreach initiatives every semester at a campus on Galapagos.
Program Partners:
Relevant Scientific Publication(s):
- https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/marine-science/articles/10.3389/fmars.2025.1484989/full
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X24004482
- https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.adi7562
- https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/esr/v50/p125-131
- https://libros.usfq.edu.ec/index.php/usfqpress/catalog/book/79