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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Andrew Temple, Professor Per Berggren
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Fisheries bycatch poses the single greatest threat to cetacean (whales, dolphins, and porpoises) populations. Despite this, bycatch of cetaceans does not receive proportionate levels of research or management effort. The contribution of small-scale fisheries to cetacean bycatch is generally overlooked because of the extreme data paucity in these fisheries. Here we assess the likely geographic distribution of bycatch risk posed to the odontocetes (toothed whales) at the global scale. We combine species’ occurrence and estimates of fisheries susceptibility for all 72 marine toothed whale species with estimates of small-scale fisheries’ gillnet fishing pressure across 163 marine fishing nations. We show that the bycatch risk from small-scale fisheries is likely greatest in low- and middle-income regions, generally in the tropics and sub-tropics. Our findings highlight a “wicked problem”, that the highest bycatch risks primarily occur in regions with lowest fisheries management efficacy. Further, addressing bycatch in these priority regions is fraught with potentially damaging consequences for the survival of vulnerable human coastal communities. Immediate management and conservation actions are required to prevent species extirpation and extinction through the reduction of small-scale fisheries bycatch. To be successful these actions must carefully balance both species and human needs.
Author(s): Temple A, Westmerland E, Berggren P
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Fish and Fisheries
Year: 2021
Volume: 22
Issue: 6
Pages: 1155-1159
Print publication date: 01/11/2021
Online publication date: 14/06/2021
Acceptance date: 22/05/2021
Date deposited: 15/06/2021
ISSN (print): 1467-2960
ISSN (electronic): 1467-2979
Publisher: Wiley
URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/faf.12581
DOI: 10.1111/faf.12581
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