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Brochure, flyer, fact-sheetCollecting data on dolphin depredation in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries
Brief
2023Also available in:
No results found.Dolphin depredation, whereby dolphins remove catches from nets and damage fishing gear, has become an issue worldwide, affecting both the survival of wild dolphin populations and fishers’ livelihoods. However, the lack of data regarding the scope of these interactions in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea hinders the ability to protect both parties. As interactions between fishers and dolphins in the region become more frequent, loss of income can create conflicts, undermining efforts to improve both marine mammal conservation and fisheries sustainability in the region. This brief summarizes the protocol developed jointly by the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans of the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area and the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean and aims at providing policy makers and other interested parties with key elements for a harmonized data collection on dolphin depredation. -
Book (series)Depredation by marine mammals in fishing gear
A review of the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea and contiguous Atlantic area
2023Also available in:
No results found.Marine mammal depredation refers to the phenomenon of marine mammals partially or completely removing catch from fishing gear. Its results, which can affect the survival of wild dolphin populations, as well as damage gear or target fish, disturb fishing activities and generate economic losses for fishers, are a growing cause for concern in several Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries. Depredation events often leave dolphins injured or snared in fishing nets and fishers with damaged nets and lower catch values. As a result, these interactions can create conflicts between dolphins and fishers, undermining efforts to improve the sustainability of fisheries and the conservation of vulnerable species. This review offers an overview of historical and current trends of depredation by marine mammals in the region, including information on the contiguous Atlantic area west of Gibraltar. The publication aims to assess and synthesize depredation records and describe ongoing projects on depredation in order to improve knowledge on key aspects of depredation, such as the fishing practices associated with depredation events, the economic fallout caused by marine mammal–fisheries interactions and the species and populations most involved in depredation. In the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, coastal fisheries often come into contact with cetaceans, especially bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) and harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena relicta). These species feature most prominently in the depredation records assessed and are the main research focuses of ongoing monitoring projects in the region. However, Mediterranean monk seals (Monachus monachus) are also responsible for depredation, especially in the eastern Mediterranean, and are the subject of their own short chapter in this review. -
Book (series)Dolphin depredation in Mediterranean and Black Sea fisheries
Methodology for data collection
2022Also available in:
No results found.When marine mammals come into physical contact with fishing gear, there can be harmful effects to both the animals and fishers. The animals may be incidentally caught in fishing gear, or in the case of depredation, marine mammals – usually dolphins – may remove and/or damage fish captured in nets or hooks, resulting in damage to fishing gear, loss of capture and consequently lower catch values and fisher revenues. Depredation can also lead to entanglement, which can in turn produce incidental catch. The competitive overlap between dolphins and humans at sea represents a worldwide issue, as it affects both the survival of wild dolphin populations and the livelihoods of fishers, and it is receiving growing attention from fisheries management organizations around the globe. Many gaps still remain, however, in the knowledge of the actual extent of the problem, including in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In order to understand and mitigate dolphin depredation in the region through effective management measures, adequate regional/subregional and national monitoring programmes are required to obtain representative data on dolphin depredation events during sampled fishing operations. The purpose of this protocol, which allows for replicability and comparisons among fisheries across the region, is to facilitate and improve data collection in a harmonized and standardized way. Its aim is to improve understanding of the dolphin populations involved in depredation events, assess the regional magnitude of depredation to determine the economic losses suffered by fishers, identify the typologies of fishing practices that lead to depredation, as well as potential mitigation measures, and collect information for the conservation of marine mammals.
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