The critical endangered species has become one of the main concerns regarding the loss of biodiversity in the 21th century. It is also a new challenge for the protection of the endangered Chinese White Dolphin (CWD) which was discovered living along the western coast of Taiwan since the year 2002. It has a large overlapping occurred in the coastal place where the CWD population is inhabited around with human¡¦s development activities. Therefore, the conservation actions are emergently needed tasks and immediately entangled with difficulties. The present study employs the qualitative tool to investigate the institutional policy on the conservation strategies related to the protection of endangered CWD. These include documental analysis of literatures, interviews, and observations to identify the key concepts for the conservation strategies. The interactions among context of the strategies, actions to impacts and threats, and scientific contributions are also analyzed. The results are assessed according to three levels of conservation objectives, i.e. the individual/population, habitat, and ecosystem. The formal regulations cover the individual/population level much less than the habitat and ecosystem levels. The policies and scientific efforts are mostly concerned on the individual/population and habitat levels. The ecosystem level is ignored. The legal guidelines have set for the impacts and threats to the conservation policy, but there is lack of scientific investigation and input. It is imperative to emphasize the intensive interaction between scientific research and conservation strategies. The scientific development is obviously one of the key institutional policies of conservation. This study examines three issues in relevance to the development of conservation strategies and the implementation of management. Furthermore, the present work concludes that the conservation strategy must perceive to a correct direction for future planning and implementation, in order to integrate the conservation capacity and achieving the comprehensive conservation results.

Following the global warming and climate change in the last twenty years, one of key actions on maintaining biodiversity is to save critical endangered species with aspect of intergrated management. Our study aims to explore integrated mechanism inside the case of Chinese White Dolphin conservation in Taiwan throught a qualitative research approach. The integrated mechanism was also understood under a concept of social-ecological system and analysed with a framework that was modified mitigation-adaptation model used to apply on climate change study. The capacity of management measures including of mitigation and adaptation was explored on three levels, i.e. animals, habitat, and society. Differences of the capacity in these three levels were compared between the cases in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The study also tried to point out possible responders who should conduct these conservation measures from a questionnaire survey. The statistical analysis revealed none of top measures must be under the responsibility of government in these three levels. The analysis showed that there is no correlation between the implementation of measures and the governmental responsibility. In addition, the top-six measures were mainly in the marine environment level and four of the measures had been implemented. In the analysis about governmental responsibility top-seven measures, should be under the responsibility of developers, instead of the government. Some suggestions were given at the end for integrated management of Chinese White Dolphin conservation in Taiwan.

Marine vertebrate species face unprecedented and ever increasing pressures as a result of human activity, primarily fishing, in the global oceans. One area of growing concern has been for the impacts of small-scale fisheries on these species. Over the past decade it has become increasingly clear that these under-studied fisheries have sizeable levels of catch and bycatch of many threatened and endangered species of sea turtles, seabirds and small cetaceans. This thesis presents a collection of chapters that investigate aspects related to the interactions of small-scale fisheries with threatened marine vertebrates. We identify sizeable rates of bycatch of small cetaceans and seabirds for multiple small-scale longline and gillnet fisheries in both Peru and Ecuador. Catch rates of small cetaceans by the Peruvian small-scale driftnet fleet are estimated to exceed 10,000 dolphins and porpoises annually. A trial of acoustic alarms (pingers) in this same fishery showed a 37% reduction in small cetacean bycatch while not reducing target catch and represents a promising bycatch mitigation measure. Seabird bycatch was also found to be high in both longline and gillnet fisheries and included a wide range of seabird species including the critically endangered waved albatross (Phoebastria irrorata). Through post-capture satellite tracking of loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) we show that these turtles are present in pelagic waters off the coasts of Peru and Chile for extended periods during which they are at risk of repeat interactions with small-scale longline fisheries operating throughout their foraging habitat. Through scan and focal sampling of the endangered marine otter (Lontra felina) we also show that otters making den sites in human fishing communities face additional risks due to entanglement in fishing gear or interactions with feral animals but, if properly managed, these sites could serve as stepping stones for marine otters along the coast. The results presented here, gathered using a wide range of techniques, including onboard observer and shore-based monitoring, satellite tracking, bycatch quantification, and bycatch mitigation experiments, represent an attempt to better characterize and quantify the interactions of small-scale fisheries with threatened marine vertebrates toward identifying solutions that can lead to sustainable fisheries and populations of these protected marine species.

付記する学位プログラム名: 社会を駆動するプラットフォーム学卓越大学院プログラム / 京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第25346号 / 農博第2612号 / 新制||農||1107(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科応用生物科学専攻 / (主査)教授 三田村 啓理, 教授 益田 玲爾, 准教授 市川 光太郎, 准教授 木村 里子 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM