Assessing the Effects of Banana Pingers as a Bycatch Mitigation Device for Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena)
dc.contributor.author | Omeyer, LCM | |
dc.contributor.author | Doherty, PD | |
dc.contributor.author | Dolman, S | |
dc.contributor.author | Enever, R | |
dc.contributor.author | Reese, A | |
dc.contributor.author | Tregenza, N | |
dc.contributor.author | Williams, R | |
dc.contributor.author | Godley, BJ | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2020-05-13T10:59:42Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2020-05-13 | |
dc.description.abstract | Bycatch is a significant cause of population declines of marine megafauna globally. While numerous bycatch mitigation strategies exist, acoustic alarms, or pingers, are the most widely adopted strategy for small cetaceans. Although pingers have been shown to be an effective measure for numerous species, there are some concerns about their long-term use. Bycatch is recognized as a persistent problem in waters around Cornwall, United Kingdom, where several cetacean species are resident, with harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) being the most-commonly sighted. In this study, we assessed the effects of a Banana Pinger (Fishtek Marine Limited) on harbour porpoises in Cornwall between August 2012 and March 2013. Two passive acoustic loggers (C-PODs; Chelonia Limited) were deployed 100 m apart to record cetacean activity during cycles of active and inactive pinger periods. Harbour porpoises were 37% less likely to be detected at the C-POD near the pinger when the pinger was active, while they were only 9% less likely to be detected 100 m further away. The effect of the pinger was constant over the study period at both C-PODs despite the temporal variation in harbour porpoise detections. In addition, we found no evidence of reduced pinger effect with changing environmental conditions. Furthermore, harbour porpoise detections at the C-POD near the pinger did not depend on the time elapsed since the pinger turned off, with harbour porpoises returning to the ensonified area with no delay. Together these results suggest that (1) harbour porpoises did not habituate to the pinger over an 8-month period, (2) the pinger effect is very localized, and (3) pinger use did not lead to harbour porpoise displacement over the study period, suggesting an absence of long-term behavioral effects. We suggest that the deployment of pingers on fishing nets would likely reduce net-porpoise interactions, thereby mitigating bycatch of harbour porpoises and potentially other cetacean species. As the small-scale fishery dominates in United Kingdom waters, there is an acute need for cost-effective mitigation strategies with concurrent monitoring to be implemented rapidly in order to address the problem of harbour porpoise, and more generally, cetacean bycatch. | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Whale and Dolphin Conservation | en_GB |
dc.description.sponsorship | Fishtek Marine Limited | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Vol. 7, article 285 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.3389/fmars.2020.00285 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/121029 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Frontiers Media | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2020 Omeyer, Doherty, Dolman, Enever, Reese, Tregenza, Williams and Godley. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. | en_GB |
dc.subject | acoustic deterrent | en_GB |
dc.subject | C-POD | en_GB |
dc.subject | cetacean | en_GB |
dc.subject | marine mammal | en_GB |
dc.subject | passive acoustic monitoring | en_GB |
dc.title | Assessing the Effects of Banana Pingers as a Bycatch Mitigation Device for Harbour Porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.date.available | 2020-05-13T10:59:42Z | |
dc.description | This is the final version. Available on open access from Frontiers Media via the DOI in this record | en_GB |
dc.description | Data Availability Statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.eissn | 2296-7745 | |
dc.identifier.journal | Frontiers in Marine Science | en_GB |
dc.rights.uri | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ | en_GB |
dcterms.dateAccepted | 2020-04-07 | |
rioxxterms.version | VoR | en_GB |
rioxxterms.licenseref.startdate | 2020-04-07 | |
rioxxterms.type | Journal Article/Review | en_GB |
refterms.dateFCD | 2020-05-13T10:57:51Z | |
refterms.versionFCD | VoR | |
refterms.dateFOA | 2020-05-13T10:59:45Z | |
refterms.panel | A | en_GB |
Files in this item
This item appears in the following Collection(s)
Except where otherwise noted, this item's licence is described as © 2020 Omeyer, Doherty, Dolman, Enever, Reese, Tregenza, Williams and Godley. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.