HARBOR PORPOISE (Phocoena phocoena): Gulf of Maine/Bay of Fundy Stock

• Main Authors: Stock Definition, Geographic Range
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2001
• Subjects: Alka; Canada; North Atlantic; Phocoena phocoena
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.295.279; http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/pdfs/sars/ao2001poha-gmeb.pdf

This stock is found in USA and Canadian Atlantic waters. The distribution of harbor porpoises has been documented by sighting surveys, strand ings, and takes reported by NM FS observers in the Sea Sampling P rogram. During summer (July to September), harbor porpoises are concentrated in the northern Gulf of Maine and southern Bay of Fundy region, generally in waters less than 150 m deep (Gaskin 1977; Kraus et al. 1983; Palka 1995a, b), with a few sightings in the upper B ay of Fundy and on the no rthern edge of Georges Bank (P alka 2000). During fall (October-Decem ber) and sp ring (April-June), harbor porpoises are widely d ispersed from New Jersey to Maine, with lower densities farther north and south. They are seen from the coastline to deep waters (> 1800 m; Westgate et al. 1998), although the majority of the population is found over the continental shelf. During winter (January to March), intermediate densities of harbor porpoises can be found in waters off New Jersey to North Carolina, and lower densities are found in waters off New Y ork to New Brunswick, Canada. There d oes not appear to be a tempora lly coordinated migratio n or a specific migratory route to and from the Bay o f Fundy region. Though, during the fall, several satellite tagged harbor porpoises did favor the waters around the 9 2m isobath, which is consistent with observations of high rates of incidental catches in this depth range (Read and Westgate 1997). There were two stranding records from Florida (Smithsonian strandings data base). Gaskin (1984, 1992) proposed that there were four separate populations in the western North Atlantic: