Missing in Mesoamerica: An Interview With Dr. Rachel Graham About Bringing Sawfish Back From the Brink

        To bring back the International Sawfish Day 2020 hype we wanted to share our next SCS blog featuring Dr. Rachel Graham. Dr. Graham is head of MarAlliance, an international NGO dedicated to understanding and conserving marine life in Mesoamerica, including sawfish. MarAlliance has helped gather data to better understand the distribution of sawfish in this area and Dr. Graham provided us with some exciting updates about this work. To read more about her personal journey into the marine research and conservation field along with some sawfish related stories check out our latest blog below.

Dr. Rachel Graham of MarAlliance. 

        1. Did you have a role model growing up that inspired you to work in the science field or with elasmobranchs in general? 

         My work with wildlife was kickstarted by my innate curiosity, my love of wild animals, especially those species that were marginalized or evoked fear and the unstinting support of my family to pursue anything that fascinated me. I didn’t have any specific role models guiding my marine work until later in life when I got to meet with and present my work to several of my heroes Dr. Eugenie Clark, Dr. George Schaller and Sir David Attenborough. Their encouragement gave me the oomph to get through some of work’s more challenging periods. My approach of working locally and democratizing science developed when I was a teenager from field trips to community-based projects run by my mum in Africa and the Middle East. Finally, I translated all I had learnt to coastal fishing communities, lessons that were augmented by discussions at sea with the late Dr. Bob Johannes who championed working with local fishers, valuing traditional fisher knowledge and integrating this into fisheries management and fish conservation.

        2. Can you describe what a typical day is for you?

         I feel as though my professional life is a bit Jekyll and Hyde-ish as my working days are often polar opposites. There are the office days, which as head of an international organization are consumed with organization and management of staff, projects and professional collaborations across five countries, administration and finances, fundraising, and work with partners, my boards (local and international) and donors. This work requires a high degree of multitasking and this is unfortunately the enemy of any laser-focus on any one piece of work. I try to carve out time to read papers, review data and write. Then, my other self jumps out when I am in the field, with time spent in boats or the water where we often work collecting data, training or working with fishers and colleagues. Frankly, this is where I am happiest. Occasionally, conditions in the field are comfortable with larger boats and facilities for gear, toilets and such but mostly we work in basic conditions, out of small 7m open panga style boats with outboards and limited deck space or shelter from the often unrelenting tropical sun. A key skill I have acquired over 22 years at sea: hanging my backside over the side of a moving boat for relief, despite a mostly male crew. The days are very long, with moves between sampling sites and often working into the night, especially when we are setting longlines as we wait 90 minutes for the gangions to soak before rebaiting. These boat-based periods create the camaraderie of the sea, and are wonderful grounds for training, informational exchanges, and even deep discussions. As a woman who clearly does not fit a standard mold, the boat is often transformed into a safe ground for traditional fishers where we hash out hard topics, where the men gain often novel perspectives from a woman, and sometimes even solve difficult life-impacting issues. And yes, what is discussed in the boat, stays in the boat. During the pandemic, restrictions to international and in-country travel or entry into national parks or restricted areas such as autonomous indigenous areas have curtailed most of our field work, so we have been office bound for the past 7 months. For many of the fishers I have spoken to, this pandemic period has been not only difficult economically but has also impacted their self-esteem and their health. Going out to work at sea defines who we are.

        3. What inspired you to begin MarAlliance?

         My values and vision inspired me to create MarAlliance. I was hard pressed to find a good fit with other international organizations, so I started my own. To reverse population declines and thrive, elasmos need a voice and stewardship that is built from the ground up. People on the front lines of where conservation needs to happen, in the coastal communities especially, need to be the stewards of elasmobranchs. We help by democratizing science, engaging locally, especially women, providing the tools and knowledge, working collaboratively to identify and abate threats and leveraging opportunities to build local voices and champions whom we help to connect with decision-makers and funders. In 6 years, we have built a strong and highly diverse team with programs and subprojects across 5 countries and are seeing the needle move for elasmos in multiple locations. I couldn’t be prouder of our collective work.

Dr. Rachel Graham and fishers, Nelson Ortega and Evaristo Muschamp, tagging a great hammerhead in Belize. Photo credit: Pete Oxford. 

        4. How do you think working on sawfish conservation in Central America differs from working on sawfish conservation in other parts of the globe?

        With sawfish ranges contracting globally coupled with continued declines in populations, in Central America, finding sawfish has become a needle in a haystack proposition. There are also security issues working in this region that may not be encountered in others. Most sites where sawfish have been found are both very remote and hard to access, and often overlap with illegal activities, including trade in sawfish parts and the drug trade. These sites are also home to some of the most impoverished coastal communities who have few alternatives to fishing, especially with nets, the key fishing gear that has led to sawfish demise globally. The conservation of sawfish needs to be considered in a much larger context of poverty, food security and economic opportunities. These all need to be addressed if we have any hopes of conservation practices taking root.

Mexican fisher, Henry Mezquita, trained in marine megafauna monitoring methods with MarAlliance now training other fishers in the indigenous Comarca Guna Yala in Panama as part of a successful fisher exchange program between project countries. 

        5. Do you have any advice for young women in your area that are wanting to start a career in science or specifically in elasmobranch research?

        I love to hear that young women want to join this field, there is so much work to be done to secure a future for sharks and rays. Yet there is still a long way to go, especially to ensure that more women in the tropics become field biologists and rise to decision-making positions in the fields of marine conservation and management. Building local capacities is key to ensuring that the countries with sawfish and other elasmobranch species have a strong contingent of trained scientists who can conduct research and conservation. To all embarking in this field I would say first, please do your homework, not only about elasmobranchs but also learn about the site, organization or university laboratory you may be keen to work with. Take stock of what you enjoy doing and what your skills are (ask your friends and family what you are best at). Offer to volunteer, look to see what skills are needed and try to boost skills that the organization you are interested in could use (GIS, data analyses, writing, social media, graphic design, meeting facilitation, languages and much more). You can trade these skills for more focused work with sharks and rays. If you have a really helpful skillset and the people you approach can afford it, you may be able to negotiate cost coverage for transport and food and even accommodation. Don’t expect to work in communities unless you are willing to commit significant time to a project and that you are deemed to have the qualities to work well with the team and community partners. Relationships take time to build and can be easily broken especially by young, idealistic, opinionated and overenthusiastic students or volunteers. Take any opportunity to learn what you can. During this pandemic period, there are so many courses, webinars and talks, so you can learn a ton while building your useful skills and shaping your plan to work in this field. We need so many more passionate and innovative people to drive this field forward to reverse the population declines in so many species of chondrichthyans.

        6. In your opinion, what has been the general attitude of fishermen in your area towards sawfish conservation? What about the general public?

        Most fishers we work with  in their early 20s to late 30s, have never seen a sawfish. Those 40 years old and older remember them as younger men or children, caught in their nets or those of their fathers or grandfathers. Unfortunately, it has been that long since they have been observed or captured. However, based on surveys that I have run with my team in several countries, most fishers and members of the public would like to see sawfish remain alive, only a few older fishers who have first-hand experience with the animals when these were struggling in nets noted that they are not overly keen on the recovery of sawfish populations.

Evan Cuevas, traditional fisher from Belize, and Ivy Baremore, Technical Coordinator for MarAlliance, helping to train a next gen shark scientist, Cynthia Xiu, in juvenile shark tagging. Photo credit: Rachel Graham.  

        7. Can you describe your most iconic sawfish moment that you have had thus far? It can be a moment that you had in the field or one during an outreach event, etc. just a moment that stands out to you.

        I was in a long pirogue descending the river Chucunaque in the remote Darien region of Panama when far off we could see another boat heading back upriver in haste. It was captained by the best known sawfish fisher in the region and we flagged him down as I had been keen to talk with him. Previously, he had been in a hurry and unable to talk, never slowing his boat as he raced downriver to set his nets. Yet this time he slowed and as we approached we saw that on top of the pile of nets lay a body, unmoving under the hot sun. We were clearly worried and once we approached we could tell the captain was upset. We held onto the boat when all of a sudden the body moved, and the man moaned in pain. The captain told us that they were setting nets and longlines when one of the lines hooks got badly embedded in his assistant’s hand. And there it was a huge 16/0 hook (circular I might add) was well and truly stuck into the hand. It was immediately clear that they had no choice but to make it to the closest hospital hours away for its removal and a dose of antibiotics and tetanus shots. I pulled out our first aid kit and gave him some pain relief, disinfected the wound site and hook as best as possible and bandaged it up. Since that time, the captain shared that he would be happy to be interviewed about sawfish and work with us more on the sawfish project. The fishers in our boats clearly saw that we had their backs, and our work was not all about sawfish. I tell this story as it was yet another example of how wildlife research and conservation starts with people and building relationships and trust.

Dr. Rachel Graham fixing an eDNA sample from river water filtered in the remote Darien of Panama as part of a broad search for remnant populations of sawfish. Photo credit: Megan Chevis. 

        8. Have you ever seen a sawfish in the wild? If so, please describe the event.

        After 20 years of looking for them in several countries – Belize, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Cuba, Panama and Madagascar, I sadly have never seen a live sawfish in the wild and look forward to the day I do. The closest I got was when a fisher showed me the saws of three neonate sawfish he had captured 3 weeks earlier in a stretch of river we were surveying. One teammate, Megan Chevis, was called by a fisher to the scene of a large animal capture on the Pacific of Panama. The animal was already dead and carved up when she arrived. It had been the first capture that fisher had recorded in 20 years. We are hopeful though as the eDNA work we have done in additional sites in Central America has revealed remnant populations where are working with communities to locate animals to study and better protect them.

        9. Are there any new projects you are working on or interesting updates that you would like to share with the SCS community?

        Very excited to share that through surveys and eDNA work we have narrowed down two areas in Panama and Honduras where sawfish are occasionally captured. We will be working with several fishing communities in these areas to better understand how we can mitigate threats from nets, address the drivers of decline (fisheries declines, poverty, limited income alternatives) and foster both interest and stewardship of largetooth sawfish which I now call our River Guardians. What has become absolutely clear in Central America, is that only with a holistic community-centered approach will we have a chance to bring sawfish back from the brink.

Dr. Rachel Graham and Megan Chevis, Panama National Coordinator for MarAlliance, with a largetooth sawfish (Pristis pristis) saw that likely originated from an area around the Panama Canal. Photo credit: Xavier Graham.