Behavioural ecology of fishermen and odontocetes in a depredation context

• Main Author: Richard, Gaëtan
• Other Authors: Centre d'Études Biologiques de Chizé - UMR 7372 (CEBC), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-La Rochelle Université (ULR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de La Rochelle, Christophe Guinet
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: Depredation; Demersal longline; Killer whale; Sperm whale; Bio-logging; Human behavioural ecology; Passive acoustic monitoring; Palangre démersale; Orques; Cachalots; Écologie comportementale humaine; Acoustique passive; [SDV.SA.STP]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Agricultural sciences/Sciences and technics of fishery; Killer Whale; Orca; Orcinus orca; Patagonian Toothfish; Physeter macrocephalus; toothed whales
• Online Access: https://theses.hal.science/tel-02117602; https://theses.hal.science/tel-02117602/document; https://theses.hal.science/tel-02117602/file/2018Richard119881.pdf

Many marine predator species feed on fish caught by fishers directly from the fishing gear. Known as depredation this interaction issue has substantial socio-economic consequences for fishermen and conservation implications for the wildlife. Costs for fishers include damages to the fishing gear and increased fishing effort to complete quotas. For marine predators, depredation increases risks of mortality (lethal retaliation from fishers or bycatch on the gear). Longline fisheries are the most impacted worldwide, primarily by odontocetes (toothed whales) depredation, urging the need for mitigation solutions to be developed. Most of studies assessing depredation have primarily relied on surface observation data, thus the way odontocetes interact with longlines underwater remains unclear. Besides, the way fishermen respond to depredation during fishing operations, or can influence their detectability to odontocetes, have been poorly investigated. This thesis therefore aimed at investigating these aspects through a passive acoustic monitoring, bio-logging and human ecology approaches, focusing on the French Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) longline fisheries impacted by killer whales (Orcinus orca) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus). Firstly, this thesis reveals that captains behave as optimal foragers but with different personal perception of competition and fishing fulfilment. Some captains would thus be more likely to stay within a patch or to haul closest longline even in presence of competition, suggesting these captains would show higher interaction rates. Additionally, the propagation of vessels’ acoustics varied depending on the type of manoeuvre (e.g. going backward vs. forward). The way captains use their vessels to navigate may therefore influence their detectability and so their depredation level. Secondly, loggers deployed on both the longlines (accelerometers) and odontocetes (GPS-TDR) revealed that killer whales and sperm whales are able to depredate on longlines while soaking on ...