Joanna Alfaro Shigueto

Assessing the Effectiveness of the ‘Ban on Dolphin Capture’ in Peru

Poster.

Town/RegionCountryCategoriesDate
Salaverry
San Jose
Ilo		PeruCentral and Latin America16 Oct 2007

International legal measures to ban the take of dolphins and porpoises in fisheries have served as a protective measure to reduce declines of cetacean populations. However, cetacean bycatch remains a concern for fisheries worldwide and artisanal fisheries may contribute significantly to cetacean mortalities at sea.

In Peru, the bycatch of small cetaceans peaked in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. From 1990-1993, approximately 17,000 dolphins and porpoises were caught in Peruvian artisanal fisheries. National legislation passed in 1995 prohibits dolphin and porpoise capture, trade and consumption. However, this legislation is not fully enforced in some ports. Also, the highly diffuse nature of artisanal fisheries and their unregulated markets has made difficult the assessment of the effectiveness of dolphin and porpoise protection legislation. This knowledge gap makes decision making difficult and, as a result, conservation and enforcement efforts in this field are limited. Nevertheless, updated data on numbers of cetaceans caught and the spatial and temporal distribution of cetaceans and bycatch are essential in defining the scale of this continuing problem and in designing appropriate national and regional management and conservation measures.

Species affected, some of which are listed as global priorities for cetacean bycatch reduction, include Burmeister’s porpoises Phocoena spinipinnis (whose distribution is limited to Peru, Chile and Argentina), dusky dolphins Lagenorhynchus obscurus, common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus, and long-beaked common dolphins Delphinus capensis.

In attempting to address this situation this study has three main objectives: (1) assess the effectiveness of legal bans on small cetacean protection through an observer program in three fishing ports, (2) increase local awareness of marine mammal conservation by conducting workshops with fishermen and fishing authorities, and (3) test acoustic devices (pingers) as a means to reduce or mitigate dolphin bycatch. The study will provide valuable insights into the level of success of a ban on the take of marine species that is in conflict with local fishing practices. It will also promote greater awareness and involvement by local fishermen and will provide useful information on the potential for the application of bycatch mitigation measures. Moreover, we hope the study draws attention to marine fauna interactions with small/medium scale fisheries (often overlooked globally) and will show that these fisheries can be effectively monitored.

For more information contact joanna@prodelphinus.org or go or go to http://www.prodelphinus.org

Project Update: November 2007

From the beginning of the project in September 2007, we were able to monitor 12 fishing trips from Ilo, Salaverry and San Jose ports. We first started with the training of the observers in the sampled sites, continued by the design of guides for dolphin species ID (see attachment 'diptico tira').

Main species impacted in San Jose port has been the Burmeister porpoise Phocoena spinipinnis, especially by boats using nets. While in Salaverry port common and dusky dolphins were the most common species. Finally in Ilo port, no cetaceans were observed in boats using longlines. This latter confirms that the longline as a fishing gear has little or none impact in pelagic species of cetaceans.

I am attaching some pictures of the cetaceans captures, the first one is on a common dolphin and the second is a Burmeister porpoise, both animals captured with nets out of San Jose.

Project Update: February 2008

- As an update of the activities from October 07-February 08, we have continued with the monitoring of fishing trips from 03 sampling sites. During these we continued to register small cetacean interactions mainly in gillnet fishing vessels. The species correspond were: common dolphin Delphinus capensis, porpoise Phocoena spinipinnis, dusky dolphin Lagenorhynchus obscurus and bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus. Also during these months we registered sea lions Otaria flavescens entangled incidentally in nets.
- As part of the educational component of this study, we designed and distributed a leaflet for identification of marine mammals. This guide was provided to fishermen during workshops at Ilo, Salaverry and San Jose ports.
- A radio spot stressing the bycatch of dolphins and porpoises (known as ‘chanchos marinos’) was promoted in local radios at some fishing ports. This sport advertised the need of report any bycatch to the local authorities that would decide the final destination of the animal.

Project Update: April 2008

The project is going great and we are already processing some of the data obtained. This might be presented to the International Whaling Commission to meet next June in Santiago de Chile. We have been invited to present some information on the project. So this would be a wonderful opportunity to share some of this work. We will send you a copy of this report as soon is completed.

A poster has been distributed within fishermen attending to our talks, to be used in their boats, so it becomes easier to identify the species they observe during this trips at sea.

Final Report

Read about the activities undertaken and findings of this project in the final report and publication below.

File DownloadSize
Final Report.doc692 KB
Biological Conservation.pdf328.62 KB
2nd RSG Awarded

Read about Joanna's latest RSG project at http://www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/rsg/projects/joanna_alfaro_shigueto_0


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