Andy ReadRachel Carson Chair of Marine Conservation Biology, Duke University Marine LaboratoryBycatches of Marine Mammals: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions
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By-catch is the accidental capture and mortality of individual animals in fishing gear. The global by-catch of marine mammals likely numbers in the hundreds of thousands each year; this mortality poses a significant threat to many populations and several species of marine mammals. In addition, it is likely that by-catch contributes to many conservation problems, particularly in the developing world, that have not yet been identified. Fortunately, however, over the past few decades a considerable amount of research has been conducted in the U.S. and elsewhere to develop methods that reduce the by-catch of marine mammals whilst maintaining viable fisheries. In this presentation I highlight some of these successes (and a few of the failures) to demonstrate that it is possible to tackle this conservation problem, at least in areas where the requisite resources and political will exist. I will also discuss some of the challenges in exporting these lessons to fisheries that occur in the exclusive economic zones of developing countries and in international waters.
Andrew Read is the Rachel Carson Associate Professor of Marine Conservation Biology at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, in Beaufort, NC, USA. Andy was born in Southampton, England and educated in Canada. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Guelph in 1990 for research conducted with David Gaskin on the life history and by-catches of harbour porpoises in the Bay of Fundy. He has conducted field research on marine mammals, sea birds and sea turtles in Canada, Mexico, the United States, South America and Europe. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission and the Cetacean Specialist Group of the IUCN. He has served on the Editorial Boards of Marine Mammal Science and the Journal of Cetacean Research and Management. Andy is the author of more than 75 journal articles on marine ecology and conservation biology and the author, or editor, of three books. He lives with his wife, Kim Urian, in an old farm house in Gloucester, North Carolina.
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