1. Home
  2. Activities
  3. Projects
  4. Understanding harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and fisheries interactions in the north-west Iberian Peninsula

Understanding harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and fisheries interactions in the north-west Iberian Peninsula

The by-catch rate in NWIP porpoises is currently unknown and there is currently no nationally funded strandings monitoring in the area, this role being taken by NGOs. Analysis of diet and life history parameters for stranded animals, coupled with diagnosis of cause of death provides a mechanism to both directly estimate by-catch mortality and to provide
basic parameters for monitoring of population status and trends. The recent recognition of this population as genetically distinct and the recommendation by ICES WGMME to treat it as a separate management unit makes this work particularly timely.

Habitat conservation and management

Surveys and Research

Use of by-catches and strandings

Expand All | Collapse All

Activity 1

Description:Age determination by counting growth layer groups in the dentine. Age data will be used to construct life tables and thus estimate mortality rate
Start date:
End date:
Responsibility:
Output:

Activity 2

Description:Stomach content analysis and comparison with fishery catch data to determine the potential for competition between cetaceans and fisheries e.g. catch composition, minimum landing size and geographical overlap
Start date:
End date:
Responsibility:
Output:

Activity 3

Description:Determination of individual reproductive status and history, which together with age data will be used to construct maturity ogives (to establish age and size at sexual maturity), and determine the pregnancy rate and the annual reproductive cycle.
Start date:
End date:
Responsibility:
Output:

Activity 4

Description:Statistical analysis of trends in life history parameters to detect any strong trends in life history parameters over time, permitting inferences about population status. Comparison with equivalent data for other populations (notably for Scotland) for bet
Start date:
End date:
Responsibility:
Output:

Related content

Scientific name Common name Class Order Family Appendix (App. I / App. II)
Phocoena phocoena Harbour Porpoise Mammalia Cetacea Phocoenidae - / -
Document Number Title CMS Instrument Publish date
AC17/Doc.6-02 rev.2 Project Proposals Received forFuture Funding ASCOBANS 28/09/2010
AC19/Doc.6-06 Preliminary Project Report:Understanding harbour porpoise (Phocoena Phocoena) and fishery interactions in the north-west Iberian Peninsula ASCOBANS 02/03/2012

No pictures for Understanding harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and fisheries interactions in the north-west Iberian Peninsula

Implementing AgencyFiona Read / University of Aberdeen
Collaborating agenciesThe following persons/institutions will contribute access to data and samples and/or specific expertise and will participate in writing up the results: a) Dr M. Begoña Santos, Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo, PO Box 1552, 36200, Vigo, Spain, Email: m.b.santos@vi.ieo.es b) Dr Ángel F. González, Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (C.S.I.C), Eduardo Cabello 6, 36208 Vigo, Spain, Email: afg@iim.csic.es c) Dr Jose Vingada, Sociedade Portuguesa de Vida Selvagem (SPVS), Departamento de Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal, Email: spvs@socpvs.org d) Dr. Alfredo Lopez / Angela Llavona, Coordinadora para o Estudo dos Mamíferos Mariños (CEMMA), Apdo. de Correos Nº 15, 36380-Gondomar, Pontevedra, Spain, Email: cemma@arrakis.es e) Dr Jennifer Learmonth, School of Biological Sciences (Zoology), University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, Aberdeen, UK, Email: j.a.learmonth@abdn.ac.uk f) Bob Reid, Wildlife Unit, SAC Veterinary Science Division (Inverness), Drummondhill, Stratherrick Road, Inverness, IV2 4JZ, UK, Email: Bob.Reid@sac.co.uk g) Dr Paul Jepson / Rob Deaville, Institute of Zoology, Regent’s Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK, Email: paul.jepson@ioz.ac.uk / rob.deaville@ioz.ac.uk h) Dr Emer Rogan, Department of Zoology, Ecology and Plant Science, University College Cork, Distillery Fields, North Mall, Cork, Ireland, Email: e.rogan@ucc.ie i) Mardik Leopold, IMARES – Texel, Postbus 167, 1790 AD Den Burg, The Netherlands, Email: Mardik.Leopold@wur.nl
Activity start dateJanuary 2011
Activity end dateJanuary 2012
CMS AppendixAppendix II
Taxonomic groupMarine mammals
Target region
Target countryPortugal, Spain
Final technical reportYes
Unsustainable fishing and harvesting aquatic resources
Bycatch
Prey depletion