168 H. Duffy et al.
marine plastic pollution, the latter two having been high- lighted as growing threats to marine turtle populations (Nelms et al., 2016). The cumulative impacts of threats should also be considered, as multiple threats (including overlapping fisheries such as longline and trawl fisheries) could occur at the same time and location, creating syner- gistic impacts on marine turtles (Riskas et al., 2016). This is important as marine turtles are long-lived, with dispersed life history requirements, and therefore they are subject to variable threats throughout their lives. In the Cambodian context, the remaining marine turtles face pressures from coastal development and plastic pollution at their nesting sites coupled with intense fisheries activity in their foraging grounds. There is also a critical need for the gathering of fisheries-independent marine turtle data in Cambodia through both direct observation of bycatch events and regu- lar recording of in-water animals. In the absence of known nesting areas where aggregations of turtles can be monitored and tagged reliably, the assessment of population status is dependent currently on fisheries-derived bycatch reports, social surveys and irregular opportunistic sighting reports. Tagging of turtles prior to their release from bycatch already occurs, and if further nesting is identified (beyond thesinglenestobservedinFebruary 2022), the tagging of adult nesting turtles will become a priority as a step to- wards addressing these data gaps. If beaches with regular nesting activity are identified, these should be mapped and incorporated into government protected area policy. The urgency of this is illustrated by the nest found in February 2022 on an offshore island that has no current protection or active management. Although the offshore islands will be a subject of renewed
focus considering this recent nesting activity, mainland beach surveys continued in 2022, focusing on beaches in Preah Sihanouk, including Koh Tang and Koh Pring, where some of the last reported nests in Cambodia were recorded in 2010 and 2012, respectively. The 2016–2018 bycatch survey responses by fishers also highlighted other priority beaches that have not been surveyed recently because of low capacity to do so and inaccessibility. The current drive for data collection must be led in the long term by the Cambodian government and national civil society, and capacity-building initiatives co-led by Fauna & Flora are a critical part of realizing this ambition, includ- ing through the trialling of new technologies to maximize survey power. According to our survey results, c. 24% of fishers are still
more likely to consume or sell a turtle than release it. Therefore, to ensure that fishers are motivated and able to release marine turtles, more community engagement re- garding the importance of marine turtles and the relevant national legislation should be implemented, especially in identified bycatch hotspots. This should be supported
with robust behaviour change activities, such as working with fishers to identify socially and economically acceptable bycatch reduction solutions. This process is already under- way through the rollout of safe handling and release training for bycatch incidents, led by the Fisheries Administration and Fauna & Flora. There is already evidence that safe re- lease training is beneficial, with fishers reporting 22 turtles released from bycatch in 2019–2020. To maintain this pro- gress and maximize the benefit from this opportunity to reduce turtle bycatch, it is also necessary to understand and address the livelihood implications of changing marine turtle fishing and consumption practices, particularly for those groups identified as ongoing consumers of turtle meat. Transboundary approaches should also be further
pursued in the region, particularly amongst Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam as stakeholder nations in the Gulf of Thailand. A regional training workshop in marine turtle biology and conservation, involving representatives of six South-east Asian nations, funded by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, took place in 2018 in Cambodia as a step towards establishing new transboundary relation- ships and collaborations. This initiative needs to develop into meaningful partnerships for the conservation of mi- gratory marine turtle populations amongst these coun- tries. A further regional marine turtle collaboration event is planned by Fauna & Flora in 2023, after repeated delays because of the travel restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The continued presence of green and hawksbill turtles
in Cambodian coastal waters is cause for optimism, high- lighting the persistence of these animals despite intense historical exploitation and ongoing threats. Evidence for surviving turtle populations, including nesting females, gives impetus to development of solutions such as pro- moting compliance with existing legislative frameworks; evaluation, modification and support of fisheries live- lihoods that impact turtles; new fisheries-independent and locally led turtle monitoring initiatives; and the facili- tation of positive conservation action by the coastal com- munities who interact with marine turtles. With these combined approaches there is early evidence to show that Cambodia is establishing a robust conservation program- me that could support the recovery of both nesting and in-water marine turtle populations.
Acknowledgements We thank the Fisheries Administration, Royal Government of Cambodia, for their leadership and support in marine turtle conservation throughout the period covered by this study, par- ticularly Ouk Vibol and Ing Try, and the various NGOs, both in Cambodia and elsewhere, who have collaborated with Fauna & Flora to monitor and protect marine turtles in Cambodian waters; the Darwin Initiative of the UK government, the Arcadia Fund (a charit- able initiative of Peter Baldwin and Lisbet Rausing) and the U.S. Fish& Wildlife Service for funding; former Fauna & Flora colleagues who have contributed to this marine turtle conservation work since its inception, particularly Socheata Ke, Toby Eastoe, Rachel Austin and
Oryx, 2023, 57(2), 160–170 © Fauna & Flora International, 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605322000862
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