Recent information on marine mammal - fishery interactions is reviewed. A species by species approach is taken for each of the major marine fishing areas of the world. Most recent studies have been devoted to the accidental entanglement or mortality of marine mammals in fishing operations. Several species or populations of marine mammal may be threatened with extinction or severe depletion from such interactions. Most of the fisheries involved are gillnet fisheries. Relatively few recent studies have addressed the possible competitive interactions between marine mammals and fisheries for food and fishery resources.

Summarizes available information on distribution, abundance, and feeding habits of cetacean, pinniped and sirenian mammals as well as information on interactions between these species and fisheries throughout the world. Catalog of marine mammal species, their population sizes, distributions, and diets is followed by area account of their interactions with fisheries.

Marine Mammals: Fisheries, Tourism and Management Issues brings together contributions from 68 leading scientists from 12 countries to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date review on the way we manage our interactions with whales, dolphins, seals and dugongs. The book examines how we have fared conserving the world’s marine mammal populations, with a focus on the key issues of fisheries and tourism. From a unique southern hemisphere perspective, the authors consider how science informs the culling debate, how wild fisheries and aquaculture interact with marine mammal populations and how we might manage the effects of whale, dolphin and seal watching industries. The authors also address other issues such as the way in which ethics, genetics, acoustics, ecosystem models and pollution influence the management and conservation of marine mammals. Marine Mammals is an invaluable and accessible resource for all those involved with marine mammals, including scientists, managers, policy makers, industry representatives and students. Winner of a 2004 Whitley Award.

Proper designation of Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) is a highly important spatial measure in any management of fishery resources. EFH is defined as those waters and substrates necessary to fish for spawning, breeding, feeding, or growth to maturity, a definition that includes the physical, chemical and biological properties of marine areas and the associated sediment and biological assemblages that sustain fish populations throughout their full life cycle. This book presents latest advances in EFH mapping and modelling and introduces the environmental approach to EFH identification through the combined use of latest technologies and advanced techniques, such as Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems and Spatial Statistics. The contents of this book include overviews and comparisons of different approaches on species habitat modelling, methods to identify teleconnection patterns between large-scale meteo-oceanic phenomena and local environmental variation, and EFH maps for cephalopod, shrimp, hake, anchovy, sardine, and swordfish resources in the Mediterranean. The aims of this book are to provide accumulated knowledge on marine species essential habitat mapping and to be a source for further developments in the important topic of marine resource management.

The authors estimate that between 17.9 and 39.5 million tons (average 27.0 million) of fish are discarded each year in commercial fisheries. These estimates are based on a review of over 800 papers. The highest quantities of discards are from the Northwest Pacific while tropical shrimp trawl fisheries generate a higher proportion of discards than any other fishery type, accounting for one third of the global total. Of four major gear groups, shrimp trawls stand alone at the top of the list; bottom trawls, long-lines and pot fisheries come next. The third group consists of Japanese high-seas drift net fisheries, Danish seines and purse seines for capelin. Relatively low levels result from pelagic trawls, small pelagic purse seines and some of high seas drift nets. The authors point to inadequate data to determine the biological, ecological, economic and cultural impacts of discards although economic losses run to billions of dollars. However, it appears most likely that socio-cultural attitudes towards marine resources will guide international discard policies. Techniques to reduce bycatch levels including traditional net selectivity, fishing gear development and time/area restrictions, are discussed. Effort reduction, incentive programmes and individual transferable quotas (that make the vessel responsible for bycatch reduction) are seen as promising avenues for the future. However, quick solutions to the problem are unlikely and much more information is required. The publication includes a diskette with the complete Bycatch Database, which was compiled for the study, and a summary of it.