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/