Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena)

One of the major threats to harbour porpoise population sustainability is thought to be the high incidence of bycatch specifically in gillnets. This study aims to examine the use of acrylic class pearls developed in an earlier study as acoustic reflectors on gillnets in an effort to increase their v...

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Autor principal: Gustafsson, Sara
Formato: H2
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: SLU/Dept. Of Aquatic Resources 2020
Materias:
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author Gustafsson, Sara
author_browse Gustafsson, Sara
author_facet Gustafsson, Sara
author_sort Gustafsson, Sara
collection Epsilon Archive for Student Projects
description One of the major threats to harbour porpoise population sustainability is thought to be the high incidence of bycatch specifically in gillnets. This study aims to examine the use of acrylic class pearls developed in an earlier study as acoustic reflectors on gillnets in an effort to increase their visibility to echolocating harbour porpoises in the lumpsucker fishery in Kattegatt. This was done by using passive acoustic monitoring (F-PODs) on a net with pearls and a control net to detect porpoise clicks in the vicinity of the two nets as a proxy for porpoise presence. The study was divided into two periods during which different spacing between pearls (30 cm and 60 cm) was used. The click data was also analysed for called buzz feeds, clicks with inter click intervals of 15 ms, as an indicator of differences in click behaviour. Porpoise presence was analysed and presented by click rate-based distribution models (GAM), and the potential role of different kinds of variables (e.g. use of pearls, pearl spacing, diel phase, wave height, water temperature, depth) as potential drivers of porpoise presence was examined. Click behaviour was analysed and presented as number of buzzes per diel phase and buzz ratio per hour and per diel phase using a custom written Matlab algorithm. The study found that the use of pearls and using different spacing between pearls had a significant effect on porpoise presence. The study also found indications for changes in click behaviour caused by the use of pearls. Using acrylic glass pearls as acoustic reflectors on gillnets show promise as a bycatch mitigation strategy for harbour porpoise.
format H2
id RepoSLU15977
institution Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
language Inglés
publishDate 2020
publishDateSort 2020
publisher SLU/Dept. Of Aquatic Resources
publisherStr SLU/Dept. Of Aquatic Resources
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spelling RepoSLU159772020-09-10T01:08:53Z Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena) Pärlor som åtgärdsstrategi mot bifångst av vanlig tumlare (Phoecena phoecena) Gustafsson, Sara harbour porpoise bycatch mitigation acoustic reflector pearl gillnet F-POD click rate click behaviour inter-click-interval terminal buzz diel phase GAM One of the major threats to harbour porpoise population sustainability is thought to be the high incidence of bycatch specifically in gillnets. This study aims to examine the use of acrylic class pearls developed in an earlier study as acoustic reflectors on gillnets in an effort to increase their visibility to echolocating harbour porpoises in the lumpsucker fishery in Kattegatt. This was done by using passive acoustic monitoring (F-PODs) on a net with pearls and a control net to detect porpoise clicks in the vicinity of the two nets as a proxy for porpoise presence. The study was divided into two periods during which different spacing between pearls (30 cm and 60 cm) was used. The click data was also analysed for called buzz feeds, clicks with inter click intervals of 15 ms, as an indicator of differences in click behaviour. Porpoise presence was analysed and presented by click rate-based distribution models (GAM), and the potential role of different kinds of variables (e.g. use of pearls, pearl spacing, diel phase, wave height, water temperature, depth) as potential drivers of porpoise presence was examined. Click behaviour was analysed and presented as number of buzzes per diel phase and buzz ratio per hour and per diel phase using a custom written Matlab algorithm. The study found that the use of pearls and using different spacing between pearls had a significant effect on porpoise presence. The study also found indications for changes in click behaviour caused by the use of pearls. Using acrylic glass pearls as acoustic reflectors on gillnets show promise as a bycatch mitigation strategy for harbour porpoise. SLU/Dept. Of Aquatic Resources 2020 H2 eng https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/15977/
spellingShingle harbour porpoise
bycatch mitigation
acoustic reflector
pearl
gillnet
F-POD
click rate
click behaviour
inter-click-interval
terminal buzz
diel phase
GAM
Gustafsson, Sara
Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena)
title Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena)
title_full Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena)
title_fullStr Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena)
title_full_unstemmed Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena)
title_short Pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for Harbour porpoise (Phoecena phoecena)
title_sort pearls as bycatch mitigation strategy for harbour porpoise (phoecena phoecena)
topic harbour porpoise
bycatch mitigation
acoustic reflector
pearl
gillnet
F-POD
click rate
click behaviour
inter-click-interval
terminal buzz
diel phase
GAM