Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales
Abstract North Atlantic right whales frequently become entangled in fishing gear, which can negatively affect their reproductive output and probability of survival. We estimated individual whale health from a hierarchical Bayesian model fit to photographic indices of health. We reviewed 696 whales s...
Published in: | Conservation Science and Practice |
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Wiley
2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12736 https://doaj.org/article/ea9f65fd7a9047d08fb0a45c0fc8ebd1 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ea9f65fd7a9047d08fb0a45c0fc8ebd1 2023-05-15T17:30:50+02:00 Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales Amy R. Knowlton James S. Clark Philip K. Hamilton Scott D. Kraus Heather M. Pettis Rosalind M. Rolland Robert S. Schick 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12736 https://doaj.org/article/ea9f65fd7a9047d08fb0a45c0fc8ebd1 EN eng Wiley https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12736 https://doaj.org/toc/2578-4854 2578-4854 doi:10.1111/csp2.12736 https://doaj.org/article/ea9f65fd7a9047d08fb0a45c0fc8ebd1 Conservation Science and Practice, Vol 4, Iss 8, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) entanglement fixed fishing gear health injury severity reproduction survival Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12736 2022-12-31T00:47:41Z Abstract North Atlantic right whales frequently become entangled in fishing gear, which can negatively affect their reproductive output and probability of survival. We estimated individual whale health from a hierarchical Bayesian model fit to photographic indices of health. We reviewed 696 whales sighted from 1980 to 2011 and assigned 1196 entanglement events to 573 individuals in six categories of increasing injury severity and estimated monthly median health scores (0–100 scale) for the duration of their life within the study period. We then quantified the relationship between entanglement injury events and their severity with survival, reproduction, and population health. Severe entanglements resulted in worse health for all whales—males and females with severe injuries were eight times more likely to die than males with minor injuries. Females with severe injuries that survived had the lowest birth rates. Though the relationship between entanglement and fecundity was complex, we found that as the health of reproductively active females declined, their calving intervals increased. Unimpacted whale health scores declined significantly over three decades, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, suggesting food limitations may be contributing to population‐wide health declines. Decadal health scores of entangled whales showed a more notable reduction in health suggesting a clear and perhaps synergistic effect. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Conservation Science and Practice 4 8 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
entanglement fixed fishing gear health injury severity reproduction survival Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
entanglement fixed fishing gear health injury severity reproduction survival Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Amy R. Knowlton James S. Clark Philip K. Hamilton Scott D. Kraus Heather M. Pettis Rosalind M. Rolland Robert S. Schick Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales |
topic_facet |
entanglement fixed fishing gear health injury severity reproduction survival Ecology QH540-549.5 General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Abstract North Atlantic right whales frequently become entangled in fishing gear, which can negatively affect their reproductive output and probability of survival. We estimated individual whale health from a hierarchical Bayesian model fit to photographic indices of health. We reviewed 696 whales sighted from 1980 to 2011 and assigned 1196 entanglement events to 573 individuals in six categories of increasing injury severity and estimated monthly median health scores (0–100 scale) for the duration of their life within the study period. We then quantified the relationship between entanglement injury events and their severity with survival, reproduction, and population health. Severe entanglements resulted in worse health for all whales—males and females with severe injuries were eight times more likely to die than males with minor injuries. Females with severe injuries that survived had the lowest birth rates. Though the relationship between entanglement and fecundity was complex, we found that as the health of reproductively active females declined, their calving intervals increased. Unimpacted whale health scores declined significantly over three decades, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, suggesting food limitations may be contributing to population‐wide health declines. Decadal health scores of entangled whales showed a more notable reduction in health suggesting a clear and perhaps synergistic effect. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Amy R. Knowlton James S. Clark Philip K. Hamilton Scott D. Kraus Heather M. Pettis Rosalind M. Rolland Robert S. Schick |
author_facet |
Amy R. Knowlton James S. Clark Philip K. Hamilton Scott D. Kraus Heather M. Pettis Rosalind M. Rolland Robert S. Schick |
author_sort |
Amy R. Knowlton |
title |
Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales |
title_short |
Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales |
title_full |
Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales |
title_fullStr |
Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales |
title_full_unstemmed |
Fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered North Atlantic right whales |
title_sort |
fishing gear entanglement threatens recovery of critically endangered north atlantic right whales |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12736 https://doaj.org/article/ea9f65fd7a9047d08fb0a45c0fc8ebd1 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Conservation Science and Practice, Vol 4, Iss 8, Pp n/a-n/a (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12736 https://doaj.org/toc/2578-4854 2578-4854 doi:10.1111/csp2.12736 https://doaj.org/article/ea9f65fd7a9047d08fb0a45c0fc8ebd1 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12736 |
container_title |
Conservation Science and Practice |
container_volume |
4 |
container_issue |
8 |
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1766127950607941632 |