Petition to designate the Cordelia Banks, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras a Shark Sanctuary
The Cordelia Banks, located offshore and adjacent to Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras, is home to: a threatened population of Caribbean Reef Sharks, a Grouper aggregation and spawning site and the largest growth of endangered Staghorn corals in the Bay Islands of Honduras.It has been identified as a unique reef structure and as a key area for reef conservation due to its location and biodiversity in the region.Shark Legacy Project aims to assist the government of Honduras in the protection of this area by research and petition to establish the value of these marine assets.Please visit our website at www.sharklegacyproject.com to get a better idea of our research methodology and community involvement in this project.
The scientists of the Shark Legacy Project, with the support of the Roatan Marine Park and functionaries in the Honduran Governments Fisheries Branch (DIGIPESCA) need your assistance to show the Honduran Congress the public supports the establishment of a Shark Sanctuary/Marine Park on the offshore reef system adjacent to the southern shores of Roatan, known as the Cordelia Banks.Our scientists are currently studying a resident population of Caribbean Reef Sharks (that the IUCN has designated 'Near Threatened of Extinction, with declining population') to establish the dollar value to the local recreational diving and tourism industries. By this research project we will be able to establish a yearly monetary value for these sharks in the local area and demonstrate the need for their protection as an important marine resource.Together with the Petition, we will be presenting our research findings to DIGIPESCA and the Honduran Congress at the end of 2010.It is our hope that, with your assistance, we may protect the future of these sharks as a flagship species of their reef environment and assist in the creation of a Shark Sanctuary/Marine Park on the Cordelia Banks, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras.
