Preliminary estimates of the abundance and fidelity of dolphins associating with a demersal trawl fishery.

ABSTRACT: The incidental capture of wildlife in fishing gear presents a global conservation challenge. As a baseline to inform assessments of the impact of bycatch on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) interacting with an Australian trawl fishery, we conducted an aerial survey to estimate dolphin abundance across the fishery. Concurrently, we carried out boat-based dolphin photo-identification to assess short-term fidelity to foraging around trawlers, and used photographic and genetic data to infer longer-term fidelity to the fishery. We estimated abundance at ≈ 2,300 dolphins (95% CI = 1,247-4,214) over the ≈ 25,880-km² fishery. Mark-recapture estimates yielded 226 (SE = 38.5) dolphins associating with one trawler and some individuals photographed up to seven times over 12 capture

SUBMITTER: Allen SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5503993 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature