REPORT PERCEPTIONS AND VALUE OF RECREATIONAL DIVING WITH CARIBBEAN REEF SHARKS (Carcharhinus perezi) IN ROATAN, HONDURAS

MarAlliance, West End, Roatán, Honduras [email protected]

Table of Contents Introduction ...... 1 Study area ...... 2 Methods ...... 2 Results ...... 3 Discussion...... 9 Acknowledgements ...... 10 References ...... 11

This report must be cited as: J Turcios, G Horberry, IE Baremore, DE Dueñas, AE Augustinus, GM Ochoa, AM Bustillo and RT Graham. 2020. Perceptions and value of recreational diving with Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezi) in Roatan, Honduras. MarAlliance, Roatán, Honduras, 12 pp.

Introduction The most recent global assessment of chondrichthyans (sharks, rays and chimeras) identified at least 24% of species in danger of extinction (Dulvy et al., 2014). There is overwhelming evidence that commercial fishing is causing declines in shark populations worldwide through selective fishing and incidental bycatch (Clarke et al., 2006; Lack & Sant, 2011; Topelko & Dearden, 2005). Conservation measures that span conventions and multi-tiered legislation that define species protections as well as gear, site, and seasonal closures have been enacted variably throughout the world (Barker & Schluessel, 2005; Yulianto et al., 2018). With rising disposable income and greater numbers of divers and marine tourists, shark encounter tourism has blossomed into a $314 million US dollar (USD) industry, supporting species, habitats, and local livelihoods in at least 45 countries. In addition, it has been suggested that the number of shark-focused tourists may more than double by the 2030’s, generating more than $780 million world-wide (Cisneros- Montemayor et al., 2013) Shark tourism can support shark conservation by creating alternatives to shark fishing and jobs in the ecotourism sector (Cisneros-Montemayor et al., 2013; Torres et al., 2017); for instance, elasmobranchs were estimated to have a total national economic impact of $113.8 million USD in the Bahamas, where sharks are fully protected and shark dive tourism is the principal component of the tourism economy (Haas et al., 2017).

One key to shark conservation dispelling the myth that labels them as fierce man-eating predators. Shark encounter tourism can help to change negative attitudes by creating safe encounters with sharks in their natural habitats (Topelko & Dearden, 2005). Located in the Bay Islands, Roatán is an important cruise ship, scuba diving, and eco-tourism destination in Honduras (Doiron & Weissenberger, 2014), with more than 3.8 million international visitors in 2019 (ZOLITUR, 2019). Honduras is the only country in Central America designated by national legislation as a Shark Sanctuary, where all fishing of sharks has been prohibited since 2011. Among the multitude of scuba diving opportunities in Roatán, a shark encounter dive is offered by only one dive center, the Roatán Marine Life Shark Dive Center, where guests dive with Caribbean reef sharks, Carcharhinus perezi. Advertised as the “world famous Shark Dive in Roatan,” the “Shark Dive” promises divers will come face to face with 10-15 reef sharks.

Currently, the Shark Dive is the only diving center that has permission from the Roatán Marine Park to attract sharks and to bring divers to a feeding site. The sharks encountered during the dive are all Caribbean reef sharks, a species which is classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List, with population declines noted throughout its distribution (Rosa et al., 2006). Caribbean reef sharks tend to be very site-faithful, and many populations spend their entire life histories at one reef site (Bond et al., 2012; Pikitch et al., 2005). These characteristics make them highly susceptible to overfishing, as they are often in predictable locations that can be regularly targeted by fishers (Garla et al., 2006).

The objectives of this project were to: 1) determine the economic value generated by the recreational use of Caribbean reef sharks in Roatán, Honduras; 2) gauge the perception of tourists towards shark diving and the animals themselves at the Shark Dive; and 3) increase

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knowledge of the economic, educational and conservation value of sharks in their natural habitat. Study area Surveys were conducted at the “Roatán Marine Life Shark Dive” center, formerly known as Waihuaka, which is located in Coxen Hole. The dive itself, hereafter referred to as the Shark Dive, is carried out at a dive site on the south side of the island called Marko’s Place (Fig. 1). The Shark Dive has been established for 18 years and sharks are lured with 2-3 pounds of fish bait placed on a sandy site in a bucket. The number of sharks that come to feed varies on each dive from 11 to 15 sharks (S. Tritto, pers. comm.).

Figure 1. Map of the shark diving shop and buoy location in Roatan, Honduras.

Methods A structured questionnaire survey consisting of 19 questions was developed to gather information on the demographics and diving experience of Shark Dive participants, their economic expenditures on the island (accommodation, food), overall experience on the Shark Dive, and their perceptions and knowledge of sharks and shark conservation and tourism. Divers were given the surveys by biologists after they had completed the Shark Dive, and filled in answers themselves. Surveys were conducted over 33 days from February-April of 2019.

To calculate the economic valuation of shark tourism, we calculated how much money entered the economy from each visitor to the Shark Dive, both from those who exclusively came to Roatán for the Shark Dive and those who participated in the dive as part of their overall 2

touristic activities on Roatán. This included the cost of the dive, accommodations and food during their stay. For visitors who came exclusively for the Shark Dive, the total number of days they were in Roatán was used to calculate the total spent. For the ‘opportunistic’ visitors, a range was calculated using a minimum of 3 days (the night before and the night after the dive) and a maximum of the total number of days they spent on the island. Each week was counted as seven days, survey responses of “less than a week” were counted as four days (3 nights), and cruise ship passengers’ expenditures were only counted toward the cost of the Shark Dive. Airfares to and from Roatán were not included in the calculation since there is little or no in- flow from these expenditures to the local economy in the island.

For all-inclusive packages, food was included in the accommodation costs. If the surveyed tourist did not answer the question about the cost of accommodation, but did write the hotel name, the average adult nightly rate at that hotel was used. In hotels that did not provide all- inclusive service, the price of food was averaged according to the menu of their restaurant for the length of stay. If essential information for the economic analysis was not included by the surveyed guest, the surveys were not included in economic analyses.

The Shark Dive cost was not a fixed price because few people came directly to the dive center, and instead generally purchased the Shark Dive package through other dive shops or resorts (S. Tritto, pers. comm.). While prices fluctuated slightly, most dive centers charged $110 for the Shark Dive package; therefore, this price was used when respondents did not fill in a response.

The total number of tourists that took part in the Shark Dive during a six month period was obtained from the Roatán Marine Life Shark Dive Center’s database. This number was multiplied by the average expenditures to estimate six months of revenue generated by Shark Dive tourists.

Shark Dive participants were asked to respond to a series of shark conservation statements to assess their perceptions about shark related tourism. The statements included “Feeding sharks is harmful to people,” “Feeding sharks is harmful to sharks,” and “Shark tourism is beneficial to sharks”. Answers were given using a likert scale (Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral/no opinion, Agree, Strongly Agree). Each participant was also asked to describe how they felt during the Shark Dive. Answers were grouped, and in some cases shortened (e.g. ‘I felt awesome’ and ‘Awesome’ were grouped into a common ‘Awesome’ answer), and multiple answers per respondent were treated as separate answers. A word cloud was generated, with the more common answers appearing larger, using an online word cloud generator (https://www.wordclouds.com/).

Results A total of 252 tourists visited the Shark Dive during the 33 days of survey, with 193 (76%) agreeing to be surveyed. Of the 193 respondents, 18 (9%) visited the island specifically to dive

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with sharks. The remaining 175 (91%) participated in the dive activity opportunistically on their visit to Roatán (Fig. 2).

Figure 2. Percentage of tourists who visited Roatan specifically to dive with sharks, per number of respondents.

The majority of surveyed tourists asked about the existence of the Honduras Shark Sanctuary were unaware of the Shark Sanctuary designation (n = 152; 79%, Fig. 3a). Of the respondents who knew about the Sanctuary, 7 (21%) responded that the Sanctuary designation was a factor in their decision to visit Roatán (Fig 3 b).

A B

Figure 3. Knowledge about Honduras being A) a Shark Sanctuary and B) its influence on visitors’ decision to visit Roatán. Numbers represent the total number of respondents. NA indicates no response to the question.

From the 193 tourists surveyed, 150 (77%) stayed in formal accommodation (hotels and all- inclusive resorts), 18 (9%) opted for non-formal accommodation such as AirBnb, and only 7 (3%) stayed with friends (Fig. 4). Cruise ship passengers made up 3% of visitors to the Shark Dive. Tourists from North America were the most common visitors to the Shark Dive (79%), and tended to stay at all-inclusive hotels and regular hotels. Tourists from Central and South America generally stayed with acquaintances or rental houses, and most cruise ship passengers that participated in the dive were from Europe (Fig. 4)

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Figure 4. Tourist accommodation according to their nationality. Numbers represent total number of respondents.

The economic value of exclusive shark tourism in Roatán was estimated to be $22,107.00. This represented the money spent on accommodation and meals during visitors’ stay as well as the shark dive cost (Table 1). Each tourist spent on average $1,228.17 on accommodation, meals, and the shark dive during their trip to Roatán. A total of 1,311 tourists visited the shark dive in a 6-month period, from January to June 2019 (S. Tritto pers. comm.). The income to the island in this period was estimated to be $1,978,576.50 for exclusive Shark Dive tourists, which was estimated from the total number of tourists visiting the Shark Dive during this time (Table 1). For tourists opportunistically taking part in the Shark Dive, a minimum of $112,572.71 and a maximum of $269,544.71 was calculated in expenditure in accommodations and meals (Tables 2, 3).

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Table 1. Total expenses of surveyed tourists who visited Roatan specifically for shark diving. Average expenditure and standard deviation (SD) per person was also calculated, and extrapolated to six months using the total number of visitors over that time.

Exclusive Shark Dive tourists Total Shark Dive Cost Accommodation Meal spending Total $1,935.00 $17,377.00 $2,795.00 $22,107.00 Average $107.50 $965.39 $155.28 $1,228.17 SD $8.79 $878.48 $246.98 $1,134.25 6 months $173,182.50 $1,555,241.50 $250,152.50 $1,978,576.50

Table 2. Total expenses of tourists who opportunistically visited the Shark Dive during the surveys based on a minimum stay and estimated for 6 months of the year 2019. Average expenditure and standard deviation (SD) per person was also calculated.

Non-exclusive Shark Dive tourists, 3 days of expenditure Total Shark Dive Cost Accommodation Meal spending Total: $18,939.00 $84,018.71 $9,615.00 $112,572.71 Average $109.47 $480.11 $54.94 $644.52 SD $14.76 $421.88 $87.91 $524.55

Table 3 Total expenses of tourists who opportunistically visited the Shark Dive during the surveys based on their total length of stay and estimated for 6 months of the year 2019. Average expenditure and standard deviation (SD) per person was also calculated.

Non-exclusive Shark Dive tourists, based on total days on island Total Shark Dive Cost Accommodation Meal spending Total: $18,939.00 $222,780.00 $27,825.71 $269,544.71 Average $109.47 $1,273.03 $159.00 $1,541.51 SD $14.76 $1,406.89 $266.20 $1,687.85

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In all, 106 (55%) of all surveyed tourists thought that shark-related tourism was beneficial to sharks (Fig. 5). When asked if feeding sharks was harmful to the sharks themselves, 31% thought that feeding sharks was not harmful to them, compared to 24% of respondents who thought that it was harmful to sharks (Fig. 5). A majority (52%) disagreed or strongly disagreed that feeding sharks was harmful to people.

Figure 5. Diver perceptions of shark tourism in Roatan.

Altogether, 109 (61%) of the 177 surveyed tourists responded positively regarding the code of conduct during the dive, replying that it was ‘Very good’ (Fig. 6). The majority (50%) of respondents felt that the biological information provided about sharks was either ‘good’ or ‘very good’, and 41% said it was neither good nor bad. Additionally, 53% thought that boat safety was “Very Good”, followed by “Good” (39%), “Neither good nor bad” (7%), and only 1% said that boating safety was “Bad” (Fig. 6).

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Figure 6. Diver perceptions about the Diving package

Tourists reported very positive experiences after the shark dive in general. The word most often used when asked ‘How did you feel during the shark dive?’ was ‘Excited’ (30 occurrences), followed by ‘Safe’ (29 occurrences), and ‘Great’ (15 occurrences) (Fig. 7).

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Figure 7. Word cloud showing key words used to describe “How did you feel during the shark dive?” Discussion Very few tourists (17%) who participated in the Shark Dive were aware that Honduras is a Shark Sanctuary, let alone the only Shark Sanctuary in Central America. As many of these divers were self-proclaimed shark enthusiasts, it is clear that Honduras’ status as a Shark Sanctuary needs better socialization in the international and national community. The apparent decline in the numbers of sharks sighted during the Shark Dive, along with anecdotal evidence of fishing of these protected species (e.g. sharks with visible hooks in their mouths), is indicative of this lack of awareness and enforcement of the law. Increased enforcement of the sanctuary, especially among fishers in the Bay Islands, is needed to ensure the persistence of the resident Caribbean reef shark population.

Though it appears that few tourists visit Roatán to dive with or encounter sharks specifically (9% of respondents), the potential for drawing people to the island to dive with sharks remains mostly untapped. Although many local people think of sharks as a dangerous nuisance, tourists are increasingly interested in shark diving: in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, it was estimated that there were more than 14,000 bull shark dives in 2012 with more than 40 dive shops offering a bull shark dive (Save our Sharks, 2019). As these tours increase in popularity, the conservation of the species and safety of the divers needs to be at the forefront of planning.

Estimates of the economic impact of shark tourism from this study are somewhat limited, as only the costs of accommodation and meals were calculated. Other, indirect expenditures, such as tours, internal transportation (taxis, etc), and souvenir shopping could not be taken into

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account. A large proportion of Shark Dive tourists stayed at all-inclusive hotels, many of which offer internal tour packages, transportation, and entertainment; the extra costs associated with these activities and how they circulate within the economy beyond the scope of this report. Another segment of the shark dive tourists was not assessed: one all-inclusive resort books the shark dive independently and use their own boats for the dive, though the Shark Dive crew are the tour operators (S. Tritto pers. comm.). A complete analysis of the costs involved in shark- diving tourism would need to include all sectors of the economy of Roatán that provided services to shark divers (Vianna et al, 2012).

Although only a small percentage of shark species are suitable for dedicated shark tourism, those that are should be protected to secure sustainable economic benefits (Cisneros- Montemayor et al., 2013). The same traits that make reef sharks vulnerable to fishing exploitation, such as reliably aggregating in known locations and seasons, can also benefit conservation efforts if enforcement is stringent and local laws are well-socialized. Enforcement of the Shark Sanctuary is critical to the success of shark tourism in Honduras. Long-term gear restrictions and complete protection of sharks in the Bahamas has led to robust populations of sharks and strong economic benefits from shark tourism in the country (Haas et al 2017). Similar buy-in from the industry and other stakeholders is not feasible in all of Honduras; however, there is potential for the Bay Islands to exemplify the Sanctuary designation and benefit from strong protections of sharks. The potential and benefits of shark tourism will thus depend on the actions and decisions of coastal communities and governments, with an increasingly real economic incentive for conservation.

Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the support of Sergio Tritto of Roatán Marine Life Shark Dive, and the associates and staff members for their collaboration on this project. We are thankful with the institutional partner the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras (UNAH) for the continued partnership with local intern students. This project would not be possible without the participation of local and international interns. We thank the support of our funders including the Houston Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Network for continuously supporting our research, education, and monitoring projects.

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