National sea turtle management strategy under review

TIRANA, Nov. 15 – In Albania, where the Adriatic and Ionian Seas converge, the presence of marine turtles had been known for several years, but there had never been a systematic assessment of the population structure, distribution, monitoring of feeding grounds, nor had the true scale of catch by fisheries been studied.
Data shows that in Albania approximately 122 species of vertebrates and four species of plants are expected to have lost 50% of their populations during the past 25 years. This is currently the highest rate of biodiversity loss in Europe.
This was the reason why a stakeholder meeting was held in Tirana on October 24th 2011, to discuss the National Sea Turtle Management Strategy prepared by MEDASSET, the Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles, following a 3-year research project in Drini Bay, Albania.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Water Administration, the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas of UNEP/MAP, Albanian university professors and researchers, fishermen and local NGOs. The importance of the implementation of an Action Plan that will safeguard this endangered species in Albanian waters was highlighted by participants. The reviewed document produced following this meeting will be submitted to the Albanian Ministry of Environment, Forests and Water Administration and is expected to be adopted in 2012.
Research has shown that the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green turtles (Chelonia mydas) migrate through Albanian seas and that Drini Bay is an important feeding, wintering and developmental habitat for the species in the Mediterranean.
The National Sea Turtle Management Strategy, will serve as a roadmap for the development of sea turtle monitoring and protection throughout Albania. Its adoption will directly contribute to the implementation of the Barcelona Convention and will be a step forward toward compliance with the requirements of the acquis communautaire (Habitats Directive, 2020 Biodiversity Strategy, Marine Strategy Framework Directive, etc), in light of Albania’s application for accession to the European Union.
The meeting was organized by MEDASSET with the support of the MAVA Foundation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Water Administration and under the auspice of the Barcelona Convention3 and the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas of UNEP/MAP.
Within the framework of MEDASSET’s sea turtle conservation programmes in the Mediterranean the project “Monitoring and Conservation of Important Sea Turtle Feeding Grounds in the Patok Area of Albania” was carried out during 2008‐2010 based at the Patok Lagoon area of Drini Bay, on the northern coast of Albania, in the Adriatic Sea. The project included sea turtle research and conservation, capacity building and awareness raising.
This report describes the activities undertaken, the results, conclusions and recommendations deriving from the project. Data were collected during the summer months (June‐September) in all three years. The fish traps yielded a remarkable 407 sea turtles, which were studied and released: 402 were loggerhead turtles Caretta caretta and 5 green turtles Chelonia mydas, confirming that Albania is included in the range states for C. mydas. 25.7% of the captured sea turtles were males (112: 35 adults, 77 adolescents). The long‐term aim of this project is for Drini Bay to be recognised as a nationally and regionally important foraging and developmental habitat for sea turtles in the Mediterranean and that these endangered species are fully protected under Albanian national law.