Fishers and whales in Iceland

In Iceland, as in many places globally, the detrimental impacts of whale interactions with fishing gear on both fisheries and whales are not well understood and managed. This study conducted anonymous questionnaires of Icelandic fishers and interviews of capelin purse seine boat captains to gather first-hand knowledge of the issues fishers face due to whale interaction with their fishing gear. Results suggest that the humpback whale is the large whale species that is most often entangled or encircled in fishing gear and causing damage, however on occasion other large whale species are interacting with gear as well. Interactions between humpback whales and fishing gear appears to be primarily concentrated in the north/northeast and southwest of the country where there is high fishing effort and known humpback whale feeding habitat. Humpback whale interactions with gear occurred most often with capelin purse seines, which are targeting humpback whale prey, and data suggests that bycatch of whales in this fishery may be underreported. Damage and losses due to whale collisions with gear were reported to cost fishers up to 55.000.000ISK, suggesting this can be a costly issue for which mitigation measures should be explored. The use of acoustic â€œpingersâ€ is one mitigation measure that has been previously tested by capelin purse-seiners and is something that captains indicated they would be interested in continuing to try. The creation of a whale entanglement/whale-gear interaction reporting system in Iceland would aid in gathering more data and quantifying how often these events are witnessed and what the consequences of these events are to both the fishers and the whales. This study provides new information about the consequences of large whale interactions with Icelandic fisheries and suggests that future collaboration with fishers can provide insight contributing to best management practices for sustainable fishing and whale conservation.

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Humpback whales in Banderas Bay, Mexico: relative abundance and temporal patterns between 2004 and 2017

Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals ◽

10.5597/lajam00269 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 33-39

Author(s):

Iyari Janethzy Espinoza Rodríguez ◽

Astrid Frisch Jordán ◽

Fernando Noriega Betancourt

Keyword(s):

Relative Abundance ◽

Management Practices ◽

Humpback Whale ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Seasonal Abundance ◽

Humpback Whales ◽

The North ◽

Abundance Peak ◽

Breeding Seasons ◽

The North Pacific

Banderas Bay, Mexico is an important breeding and transit area for the North Pacific humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) population. In this paper we estimated relative abundance (RA = number of whales/hours of navigation) as a proxy to assess population temporary patterns in the area. We analyzed data from 14 breeding seasons (2004-2017), collected between December and March each winter. A total of 8,013 whales were observed in 1,394.6 navigation hours. Average seasonal RA was 5.7 whales per hour with a maximum of 7.5 (2013) and a minimum of 4.0 (2016). Sea surface temperature (SST) averaged 25.1°C and remained within the range considered optimal for humpback whale reproduction areas. SST showed no significant correlation with RA (r = 0.183). Inter-seasonal RA values suggested an increase throughout the study period, although the increase was not statistically significant (R = 0.32; R2 = 0.10; t = 1.15, p > 0.05). Intra-seasonal analyses showed that RA in December and January were significantly higher (U = 150, p < 0.05) than in February and March; this pattern was consistent throughout the seasons of study. These results represent a shift in the intra-seasonal abundance peak relative to previous studies when most whales were observed between January and February. It is important to recognize changes in population parameters of humpback whales in breeding areas to improve management practices. This study also highlights the potential of opportunistic platforms, such as whale watching tour boats, as viable sources of quality information, particularly in contexts when funding is limited.

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Establishment of Regional Phytoremediation Buffer Systems for Ecological Restoration in the Great Lakes Basin, USA. I. Genotype × Environment Interactions

Forests ◽

10.3390/f12040430 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 430 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ronald S. Zalesny ◽

Andrej Pilipović ◽

Elizabeth R. Rogers ◽

Joel G. Burken ◽

Richard A. Hallett ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Great Lakes ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Management Practices ◽

Recurrent Selection ◽

Lake Michigan ◽

Great Lakes Basin ◽

Annual Increment ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

The North ◽

Local Soil

Poplar remediation systems are ideal for reducing runoff, cleaning groundwater, and delivering ecosystem services to the North American Great Lakes and globally. We used phyto-recurrent selection (PRS) to establish sixteen phytoremediation buffer systems (phyto buffers) (buffer groups: 2017 × 6; 2018 × 5; 2019 × 5) throughout the Lake Superior and Lake Michigan watersheds comprised of twelve PRS-selected clones each year. We tested for differences in genotypes, environments, and their interactions for health, height, diameter, and volume from ages one to four years. All trees had optimal health. Mean first-, second-, and third-year volume ranged from 71 ± 26 to 132 ± 39 cm3; 1440 ± 575 to 5765 ± 1132 cm3; and 8826 ± 2646 to 10,530 ± 2110 cm3, respectively. Fourth-year mean annual increment of 2017 buffer group trees ranged from 1.1 ± 0.7 to 7.8 ± 0.5 Mg ha−1 yr−1. We identified generalist varieties with superior establishment across a broad range of buffers (‘DM114’, ‘NC14106’, ‘99038022’, ‘99059016’) and specialist clones uniquely adapted to local soil and climate conditions (‘7300502’, ‘DN5’, ‘DN34’, ‘DN177’, ‘NM2’, ‘NM5’, ‘NM6’). Using generalists and specialists enhances the potential for phytoremediation best management practices that are geographically robust, being regionally designed yet globally relevant.

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Review of attitudes and awareness in the agricultural industry to diffuse pollution issues

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2005.0612 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 51 (3-4) ◽

pp. 373-381 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

D. Merrilees ◽

A. Duncan

Keyword(s):

Best Management Practices ◽

Management Practices ◽

Technical Information ◽

Diffuse Pollution ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Agricultural Industry ◽

Agricultural Enterprises ◽

Farming Industry ◽

Farm Business ◽

The Impact

The Scottish Executive considers ‘Diffuse Pollution from Agricultural Enterprises’ as a priority issue over the next 5-10 years and recognises the need to improve knowledge transfer, advice and training amongst farmers, crofters, contractors and advisers. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency commissioned SAC to survey advisory staff on diffuse pollution issues, mitigation measures and delivery of environmental advice to the farming industry. This showed that the impact of agricultural diffuse pollution on the environment is considered a serious problem as is the future impact of legislation on farm business. There is an urgent requirement to raise advisers' awareness of environmental legislation and of mitigation measures. Advisers consider that farmers have limited awareness of diffuse pollution problems but those that do would consider the impact on the environment to be serious. There is a lack of knowledge on the effectiveness of pollution mitigation measures. Better technical information, supported by research, is required. This information is best conveyed to advisers via the internet, technical notes and directly by environmental specialists and delivered on to farmers by farm visits. Lack of funds prevents most farmers adopting best management practices and more than 80% of advisers consider that environmental advice should be free.

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Medusahead Ecology and Management: California Annual Grasslands to the Intermountain West

Invasive Plant Science and Management ◽

10.1614/ipsm-d-13-00077.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 (2) ◽

pp. 210-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Aleta M. Nafus ◽

Kirk W. Davies

Keyword(s):

Best Management Practices ◽

Management Practices ◽

Fire Frequency ◽

Wildlife Habitat ◽

Intermountain West ◽

Forage Production ◽

Management Objectives ◽

Annual Grasslands ◽

New Information ◽

Wide Range

AbstractThe spread of medusahead across the western United States has severe implications for a wide range of ecosystem services. Medusahead invasion reduces biodiversity, wildlife habitat and forage production, and often leads to increased fire frequency and restoration costs. Medusahead is problematic in the Intermountain West and California Annual Grasslands. The last review of medusahead ecology and management was completed 20 years ago. Since the last review, there have been scientific advances in medusahead management suggesting a significant need to develop an up-to-date synthesis. Medusahead continues to pose a serious threat to rangeland ecosystems. In this synthesis, we present new information regarding the ecology of medusahead, suggest a framework for managing medusahead based on invasion level, and identify research needs to further improve management of this invasive annual grass. Success of different management practices varies between the Intermountain West and California Annual Grasslands, signifying that the best management practices are those specifically tailored with consideration of climate, soil, plant community characteristics, and management objectives. Prevention and control treatments that are useful in the Intermountain West may not be practical or effective in the California Annual Grasslands and vice-versa.

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Evaluating effectiveness of time/area closures, quotas/caps, and fleet communications to reduce fisheries bycatch

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fst063 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 71 (5) ◽

pp. 1286-1297 ◽

Cited By ~ 42

Author(s):

Catherine E. O'Keefe ◽

Steven X. Cadrin ◽

Kevin D. E. Stokesbury

Keyword(s):

Species Interactions ◽

Life Histories ◽

Economic Impacts ◽

Fishing Effort ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Fishing Gear ◽

Target Species ◽

Skill Sets ◽

Gear Modification ◽

Fishing Fleets

Abstract Designing effective bycatch mitigation programmes requires an understanding of the life histories of target and non-target species, interactions of fish and fishing gear, effects of spatial and temporal shifts in fishing effort, socio-economic impacts to the fishery, and incentives of fishery participants. The effects of mitigation measures (including fishing gear modification, time/area closures, bycatch quotas and caps, incentive programs, and fleet communication programs) have been evaluated with respect to reducing bycatch and discards. Less attention has been focused on evaluating unanticipated results related to shifts in fishing effort, changes in the size of non-target species caught, reduced catch of target species, and economic viability to fishing fleets. Time/area closures, bycatch quotas/caps, and fleet communication programmes were evaluated against a set of criteria to assess overall effectiveness in reducing bycatch without causing unintended biological and socio-economic impacts. The results suggest that wide-ranging studies of species' life histories, potential changes in fleet behaviour, and individual incentives are important for developing and implementing mitigation programmes. Combining a suite of mitigation techniques has been successful in meeting biological and socio-economic fisheries goals. Additionally, collaborative programmes that utilize the skill sets of fishers, scientists, and managers have increased effectiveness in meeting bycatch reduction objectives.

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A Survey of Beaver Location and Habitat to Model Their Distribution in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

The UW National Parks Service Research Station Annual Reports ◽

10.13001/uwnpsrc.2004.3567 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 31-40

Author(s):

William Gribb ◽

Henry Harlow

Keyword(s):

Best Management Practices ◽

National Park ◽

Management Practices ◽

Castor Canadensis ◽

Fur Trade ◽

Early Years ◽

European Countries ◽

Destructive Behavior ◽

Best Management ◽

The North

A species that attracted a considerable amount of attention during the early years of American colonization and western exploration was the beaver (Castor canadensis). So important was this species that treaties between European countries specifically identified the trading of its furs (Long, 2000). It is estimated that over 60 million beavers were removed from the North American landscape between the early 1600s through the late 1800s (Long, 2000). By the beginning of the 1900s it is believed that only 10% of the pre-settlement population of beavers remained. Though not extinct, their numbers were radically reduced because of the fur trade and their "destructive" behavior of cutting trees and ponding water that interfered with America's growth. This perception of their detriment to the environment has been dramatically changed, and they are now perceived as ecosystem engineers that assist in creating beneficial habitat and restoring damaged landscapes (Naiman et al., 1988). Thus, it is essential in this revised role, that we know the distribution of the beaver, their habitats, and to determine the best management practices to utilize their benefits to the ecosystem.

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Density surface fitting to estimate the abundance of humpback whales based on the NASS-95 and NASS- 2001 aerial and shipboard surveys

NAMMCO Scientific Publications ◽

10.7557/3.2711 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 143 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Charles GM Paxton ◽

M Louise Burt ◽

Sharon L Hedley ◽

Gísli A Víkingsson ◽

Thorvaldur Gunnlaugsson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Confidence Intervals ◽

Generalized Additive Models ◽

Model Fitting ◽

Humpback Whale ◽

Additive Models ◽

Humpback Whales ◽

Bootstrap Sampling ◽

Distance Analysis ◽

The North ◽

Abundance Estimates

Generalized additive models (GAMs) with spatially referenced covariates were fitted to data collected during the 1995 and 2001 Icelandic (shipboard and aerial) and Faroese (shipboard only) components of the North Atlantic Sightings Surveys (NASS-95 and NASS-2001). The shipboard surveys extended from the east coast of Greenland, around Iceland, down to an area along the west coast ofIreland (in 1995) and to the north of the United Kingdom (in 2001). In contrast, the aerial surveys were limited to Icelandic coastal waters only. The aim of the analysis was to predict density, and hence abundance, of humpback whales throughout the survey regions and also to establish if there was any evidence that humpback whale density was related to sea surface temperature or depth.Fitting GAMs to the 1995 data proved problematic and so various subsets of the data were used in an attempt to improve the model fitting. Such difficulties did not occur with the 2001 data. Confidence intervals (CIs) for the abundance estimates were estimated using bootstrap sampling methods.The estimated humpback whale abundance for the region covered by the aerial and shipboard surveys in 1995 was 10,521 (95% CI: 3,716–24,636) using all available data and 7,625 (3,641–22,424) if survey blocks with 0 sightings around the Faroes and south of 60˚ N where no humpback whales were detected were excluded from the analysis. The estimate for the total survey region in 2001 was 14,662 (9,441–29,879). The high upper bounds of the confidence intervals were thought to be caused by a paucity of effort over wide areas of the survey leading to interpolation. Overall, the uncertainty associated with these abundance estimates was approximately equal to, or greater than, that associated with a stratified distance analysis. Given these wide CIs the evidence for a substantial difference in abundance between years was equivocal. However there was evidence to suggest that humpback whales congregated in shallower waters between 6–8˚C.

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Guiding BMP adoption to improve water quality in various estuarine ecosystems in Western Australia

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.2008.276 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 57 (11) ◽

pp. 1749-1756 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

N. Keipert ◽

D. Weaver ◽

R. Summers ◽

M. Clarke ◽

S. Neville

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Algal Blooms ◽

Management Practices ◽

Critical Role ◽

Nutrient Pollution ◽

Investment Planning ◽

Management Interventions ◽

New Information ◽

Receiving Waters

The Australian Government's Coastal Catchment Initiative (CCI) seeks to achieve targeted reductions in nutrient pollution to key coastal water quality hotspots, reducing algal blooms and fish kills. Under the CCI a Water Quality Improvement Plan (WQIP) is being prepared for targeted estuaries (Swan–Canning, near Perth, and the Vasse–Geographe, 140 km south of Perth) to address nutrient pollution issues. A range of projects are developing, testing and implementing agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce excessive loads of nutrients reaching the receiving waters. This work builds on progress-to-date achieved in a similar project in the Peel–Harvey Catchment (70 km south of Perth). It deals with the necessary steps of identifying the applicability of BMPs for nutrient attenuation, developing and promoting BMPs in the context of nutrient use and attenuation on farm and through catchments and estimating the degree to which BMP implementation can protect receiving waters. With a range of BMPs available with varying costs and effectiveness, a Decision Support System (DSS) to guide development of the WQIP and implementation of BMPs to protect receiving waters, is under development. As new information becomes available the DSS will be updated to ensure relevance and accuracy for decision-making and planning purposes. The DSS, calibrated for application in the catchments, will play a critical role in adaptive implementation of the WQIP by assessing the effect of land use change and management interventions on pollutant load generation and by providing a tool to guide priority setting and investment planning to achieve agreed WQIP load targets.

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Stimulating implementation of best management practices to reduce pesticide loads to surface water in a small agricultural catchment

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-21802 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Piet Seuntjens ◽

Ellen Pauwelyn ◽

Els Belmans ◽

Ingeborg Joris ◽

Elien Dupon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Drinking Water ◽

Surface Water ◽

Best Management Practices ◽

Management Practices ◽

Point Sources ◽

Mitigation Measures ◽

Physical Analysis ◽

Best Management ◽

The Impact

<p>High-quality, safe, and sufficient drinking water is essential for life: we use it for drinking, food preparation and cleaning. Agriculture is the biggest source of pesticides and nitrate pollution in European fresh waters. Pesticide occurrences in rivers result from diffuse runoff from farmland or from point sources from the farmyard. Although many best management practices (BMPs) to mitigate these diffuse and point sources are developed and widely disseminated for several years, the effective implementation of mitigation measures in practice remains limited. Therefore, the Waterprotect project has been set up to improve the knowledge and awareness of the impact of crop protection products on the water quality among the many actors, to identify the bottlenecks for implementation of suitable BMPs and further develop new governance strategies to overcome these issues for a more effective drinking water protection. As all actors share the responsibility to deal with the water quality, government agencies (e.g. environmental agencies), private actors (e.g. drinking water company, input supplier, processing industry) and civil society actors (e.g. farmers) are involved in the project. Processes to cope with the problem are initiated in 7 action labs among which the Belgian Bollaertbeek action lab. The study area is a small agricultural catchment where surface water is used as intake to produce drinking water for the nearby city. The area is sensitive to erosion and based on a physical analysis and risk analysis of the catchment, the implementation of filling and cleaning places on individual farms and buffer strips along the watercourse are proposed as suitable measures to tackle the pollution problem. In order to implement them, mechanisms to increase the involvement of targeted farmers and alternative governance systems are studied. Results of the analysis of the water quality issues and the water governance system in the Belgian Bollaertbeek action lab and the strategies to try to improve the uptake of mitigation measures to improve water quality will be presented.</p>

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