Marine Mammal Conservation: from policy change to bycatch
Marine Mammal Conservation: from policy change to bycatch reduction Sea Mammal Research Unit, Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews Sea Mammal Research Unit POLICY DISCOVERY National Capability TECHNOLOGY Abundance and distribution • • • Trend analysis using sparse data Novel population models Drivers of change Policy Impact Areas • Effective conservation of marine mammals in UK, EU and International waters • Defining EU policy objectives for marine mammal conservation • Delivering UK obligations arising from EU legal instruments • Reducing marine mammal bycatch by over 90% in key fisheries ‘improved governance of the oceans’ Post 2000 Harbour Seal Decline ↓ 8% p.a. ↓ 9% p.a. ↓ 2% p.a. Lonergan et al 2007, J Zool. ↓ 12% p.a. Decrease due to Phocine Distemper Virus Outbreak Increase of ~8% p.a Southern North Sea populations now increasing Consequences for Marine Policy • Setting regional ‘Potential Biological Removal’ levels • Licensing and consent for marine renewable energy generation devices • Ensuring ‘favourable conservation status’ under the Habitats Directive • Assessing abundance and distribution trends as indicators for ‘Good Environmental Status’ under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive Potential Causes • • • • • • • • Deliberate killing Fisheries Bycatch Pollution Vessel trauma Disease / Toxins from HABs Nutritional stress Increased competition with grey seals Predation Rogue seals in the Moray Firth Seal-salmon fishery conflict Do rogue seals exist? Combination of telemetry tracking and photo-id Grey seals using rivers Example of connectivity in river use River foraging was not exclusive And was more pronounced in grey seals <1% local population using rivers Targeting individual seals in rivers is a better management strategy than targeting seals hauled out in estuaries Quantifying and assessing the importance of marine mammal bycatch Gear Type Group Longline Demersal Trawl and Seiners Drift and Fixed nets Pelagic Trawl and Seiners ALL SPECIES RECORDED • Cetaceans • Seals • Birds • Large sharks • Rarer & Protected other fish Annual Reporting to Defra European Commission & ICES; Bycatch annual totals for selected species Informs ICES Advice and EU / UK policy making Mitigation of Bycatch Collaborative Trials with Gillnet Industry: • Acoustic pingers required under EU Law • Legal requirement 1 per 200m of net; but some nets 4-8 km long • Louder pingers trialled to determine their optimal spacing on gillnets particularly when placed one on each end Porpoise bycatch reductions: • 65% reduction in nets of all lengths • 95% reduction in nets <4km long • -> EC Derogation to use louder pingers up to 4km spacing for UK Resolving dolphin trawl bycatch • Escape hatch designed and tested • Pingers tested – easier and appear to work: Sea Mammal Research Unit POLICY DISCOVERY National Capability TECHNOLOGY http://synergy.st-andrews.ac.uk/research/research-impact/
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