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Welfare Implications of Cetacean Bycatch and Entanglements

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Marine Mammal Welfare

Part of the book series: Animal Welfare ((AWNS,volume 17))

Abstract

Each year, many cetaceans die from accidental capture in fishing gear. Despite intense study in some species, we know little about levels of bycatch and entanglement in most of the world’s fisheries. Existing laws focus on maintenance of populations rather than welfare. Yet bycatch has wide-reaching welfare consequences, affecting quality of life for the many cetaceans that become injured and stressed or suffer the loss of conspecifics. For each that dies, we can expect many more to survive and suffer from such interactions. Our understanding of the welfare implications of cetacean bycatch has increased, but remains poor. As sentient, highly intelligent beings, cetaceans are considered by many to be in the highest category of animals on a scale of sensibility to pain and suffering, in the same category as primates and carnivores. Yet there has been little change in fishery management to reflect this increasing welfare knowledge and, in general, inadequate effort to reduce the numbers of cetaceans caught in gear. The assessment and awareness of welfare implications of bycaught cetaceans is several decades behind farm animal welfare. Pathological data indicate that the majority of bycaught cetaceans asphyxiate. Those that escape or are released from fishing gear can suffer a variety of injuries, high levels of stress, behavioural alterations and physiological and energetic costs that can lead to reduced long-term survival. These, along with wider social implications for conspecifics, are considered, as are ways to understand and reduce bycatch and entanglements.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/1617/en.

  2. 2.

    http://www.fao.org/fishery/topic/1616/en.

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Acknowledgements

Thank you to Andy Butterworth for providing helpful comments on a draft manuscript and to Carl Soulsbury for allowing reproduction of figures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Whale and Dolphin Conservation, Brookfield House, 38 St Paul Street, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 1LJ, UK

    Sarah J. Dolman

  2. Biology Department, Marine Mammal Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Michael J. Moore Vet MB, PhD

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Correspondence to Sarah J. Dolman .

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  1. Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol, United Kingdom

    Andy Butterworth

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Dolman, S.J., Moore, M.J. (2017). Welfare Implications of Cetacean Bycatch and Entanglements. In: Butterworth, A. (eds) Marine Mammal Welfare. Animal Welfare, vol 17. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46994-2_4

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