Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus)
Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus L., 1758) of the Eastern Canada-West Greenland population have been hunted by Inuit for millennia. Significant commercial harvests, conducted by European and American whalers for about 400 years, ended ca. 1915. A small co-managed subsistence harvest from this popu...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3c2fb9b316d64037a25d4d933b30b702 2023-05-15T15:35:58+02:00 Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) Steven H. Ferguson Jeff W. Higdon Patricia A. Hall Rikke Guldborg Hansen Thomas Doniol-Valcroze 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.709989 https://doaj.org/article/3c2fb9b316d64037a25d4d933b30b702 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.709989/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.709989 https://doaj.org/article/3c2fb9b316d64037a25d4d933b30b702 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) commercial whaling deterministic model subsistence hunting limit reference points precautionary principle historical abundance Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.709989 2022-12-31T12:53:50Z Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus L., 1758) of the Eastern Canada-West Greenland population have been hunted by Inuit for millennia. Significant commercial harvests, conducted by European and American whalers for about 400 years, ended ca. 1915. A small co-managed subsistence harvest from this population has occurred inconsistently in Canada and Greenland, since 1996 and 2009, respectively. Since near extirpation from commercial whaling, population size has increased and the Inuit subsistence hunt now requires a harvest management framework that incorporates knowledge of abundance trends, population dynamics, and carrying capacity. Here, we use a model estimate of pre-commercial exploitation abundance to approximate carrying capacity and develop a management framework with reference points and corresponding stock status zones. When applied to recent abundance estimates, our framework indicates that the population is likely within the healthy (N50–N70) zone. Thus, an appropriate management objective is to support continued population increase, with concurrent marginal harvesting, while maintaining the population level above the target reference point (N70) of ca 12,000 whales. However, there remains large uncertainty about current population size and growth rate. The resulting data gaps require a plan for future research to monitor this population in the context of climate changes. Article in Journal/Newspaper Balaena mysticetus Greenland inuit Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Greenland Frontiers in Marine Science 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
commercial whaling deterministic model subsistence hunting limit reference points precautionary principle historical abundance Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
commercial whaling deterministic model subsistence hunting limit reference points precautionary principle historical abundance Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Steven H. Ferguson Jeff W. Higdon Patricia A. Hall Rikke Guldborg Hansen Thomas Doniol-Valcroze Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) |
topic_facet |
commercial whaling deterministic model subsistence hunting limit reference points precautionary principle historical abundance Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus L., 1758) of the Eastern Canada-West Greenland population have been hunted by Inuit for millennia. Significant commercial harvests, conducted by European and American whalers for about 400 years, ended ca. 1915. A small co-managed subsistence harvest from this population has occurred inconsistently in Canada and Greenland, since 1996 and 2009, respectively. Since near extirpation from commercial whaling, population size has increased and the Inuit subsistence hunt now requires a harvest management framework that incorporates knowledge of abundance trends, population dynamics, and carrying capacity. Here, we use a model estimate of pre-commercial exploitation abundance to approximate carrying capacity and develop a management framework with reference points and corresponding stock status zones. When applied to recent abundance estimates, our framework indicates that the population is likely within the healthy (N50–N70) zone. Thus, an appropriate management objective is to support continued population increase, with concurrent marginal harvesting, while maintaining the population level above the target reference point (N70) of ca 12,000 whales. However, there remains large uncertainty about current population size and growth rate. The resulting data gaps require a plan for future research to monitor this population in the context of climate changes. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Steven H. Ferguson Jeff W. Higdon Patricia A. Hall Rikke Guldborg Hansen Thomas Doniol-Valcroze |
author_facet |
Steven H. Ferguson Jeff W. Higdon Patricia A. Hall Rikke Guldborg Hansen Thomas Doniol-Valcroze |
author_sort |
Steven H. Ferguson |
title |
Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) |
title_short |
Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) |
title_full |
Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) |
title_fullStr |
Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Developing a Precautionary Management Approach for the Eastern Canada-West Greenland Population of Bowhead Whales (Balaena mysticetus) |
title_sort |
developing a precautionary management approach for the eastern canada-west greenland population of bowhead whales (balaena mysticetus) |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.709989 https://doaj.org/article/3c2fb9b316d64037a25d4d933b30b702 |
geographic |
Canada Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Canada Greenland |
genre |
Balaena mysticetus Greenland inuit |
genre_facet |
Balaena mysticetus Greenland inuit |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.709989/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.709989 https://doaj.org/article/3c2fb9b316d64037a25d4d933b30b702 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.709989 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766366301109878784 |