[MARMAM] New Publication - Use of aquatic mammals as bushmeat

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear Marmamers

I am excited to announce the publication of our new paper in Frontiers in
Marine Science.

Cosentino, M and Fisher, S (2016) The utilization of Aquatic Bushmeat from
Small Cetaceans and Manatees in South America and West Africa. *Front. Mar.
Sci*.3:163.

*Abstract*
Aquatic bushmeat can be defined as the products derived from wild aquatic
megafauna (e.g., marine mammals) that are used for human consumption and
non-food purposes, including traditional medicine. It is obtained through
illegal or unregulated hunts as well as from stranded (dead or alive) and
bycaught animals. In most South American and West African countries aquatic
mammals are or have been taken for bushmeat, including 33 small cetaceans
and all three manatee species. Of these, two cetacean species are listed in
the IUCN red list as “near threatened,” and one as “vulnerable,” as are all
manatee species. Additionally, 22 cetacean species are listed as “data
deficient,” hence some of these species may also be at risk. No reports
(recent or otherwise) were found for some countries, caution is needed in
concluding that aquatic bushmeat is not utilized in these nations.
Moreover, although aquatic bushmeat is mostly obtained opportunistically
and was likely originally taken only for local consumption, directed
catches occur in most countries and may have reached unsustainable levels
in some areas. For example, in Peru and Nigeria, thousands of small
cetaceans are illegally hunted annually. Reliable, recent data and a better
overall understanding of the drivers of aquatic bushmeat will be essential
in the development of effective mitigation measures.

The paper is Open Access and available for download at:

​http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmars.2016.00163/full#​

​Kind regards.

Mel​

-- 
*Mel Cosentino*
*PhD Student - **Bioacoustics *
*University of Strathclyde*
*Dept Electronic and Electrical Engineering*

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing" - E. Burke
GNU Terry Pratchett
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[MARMAM] New publication: Effects of whale watching vessels on sperm whales

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear Marmamers

I am excited to announce the publication of my new paper in Tourism in
Marine Environments.

Cosentino AM. (2016) Effects of whale watching vessels on adult male sperm
whales off Andenes, Norway. Tourism in Marine Environments 11(4) 215-227.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3727/154427316X14580612748560

Abstract
This study investigated the effects of whale-watching vessels (WWV) on
solitary sperm whales off Andenes in northern Norway. The presence of WWV
did not have a significant effect on the duration of the surface and
foraging dive periods or on the respiration pattern and dynamics. However,
the presence of WWV made sperm whales almost seven times more likely to
perform a near-surface event (NSE). NSEs are submersions without fluking
for short periods of time that take place during the surface phase. The
occurrence of NSEs led to a significant increase of 75% in surface time,
which is 6 min more at the surface that were not compensated with longer
foraging dives. Additionally, the occurrence of NSEs was associated with
changes in the animals' respiration pattern and dynamics. Data collection
concerning NSEs and respiration dynamics (both parameters assessed here for
the first time) is strongly recommended in future impact studies on this
species. NSEs may be indicators of disturbance and are reasonably easy to
identify, and thus identifying and better understanding the causes of this
behavior have management implications.

The paper is accesible here:

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/tme/2016/0011/0004/art1?token=004f1aa1f3fbffc01e573d257025706a23562f4231382d2c47357c4e7547543c7e386f642f466fb

​Kind regards

Mel​

-- 
*A. Mel Cosentino*

*"*The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing*" - *E. Burke

GNU Terry Pratchett
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[MARMAM] Marine bushmeat - Information request

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear MARMAMers

I am compiling information
​on ​
marine or aquatic bushmeat, that is the use of products derived from marine
mammals (especially small cetaceans and sirenians) in South and Southeast
Asia. These uses include from human consumption and bait to medicinal uses.
These products can be obtained through directed (illegal or unregulated)
hunts or bycath and strandings.

​The information collected will be used to write a report, which is as part
of a series of reports on the subject of aquatic bushmeat, with the aim to
understand the scale of the issue at a global level. The first two have
been presented at the IWC Scientific Committee meeting last June in Bled,
Slovenia. These will be available soon.​

Please contact me at orcinus.orca.1...@gmail.com if you have any published
or unpublished material (e.g., scientific articles, reports), news, or
contact details of people/organisations that could provide me with further
information.

Thank you in advance,

Mel Cosentino



-- 
*A. Mel Cosentino*

*"*The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing*" - *E. Burke

GNU Terry Pratchett
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[MARMAM] New publication: JNCC guidelines for minimising the risk of injury and disturbance to marine mammals from seismic surveys: We can do better

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear Marmamers

We are pleased to announce the following publication in Marine Pollution
Bulletin

JNCC guidelines for minimising the risk of injury and disturbance to marine
mammals from seismic surveys: We can do better

Abstract
The U.K.’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee 1998 guidelines for
minimising acoustic impacts from seismic surveys on marine mammals were the
first of their kind. Covering both planning and operations, they included
various measures for reducing the potential for damaging hearing – an
appropriate focus at the time. Since introduction, the guidelines have been
criticised for, among other things: the arbitrarily-sized safety zones; the
lack of shut-down provisions; the use of mitigation measures that introduce
more noise into the environment (e.g., soft-starts); inadequate observer
training; and the lack of standardised data collection protocols. Despite
the concerns, the guidelines have remained largely unchanged. Moreover,
increasing scientific recognition of the scope and magnitude of
non-injurious impacts of sound on marine life has become much more
widespread since the last revisions in 2010. Accordingly, here we present
feasible and realistic recommendations for such improvements, in light of
the current state of knowledge.

The article can be downloaded from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X15300096
Alternatively, you are welcome to send us a pdf request.

A. Mel Cosentino
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[MARMAM] New publication on Norwegian killer whales

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear Marmamers

I am pleased to announce the following publication:

Cosentino, A.M. (2015). First record of Norwegian killer whales attacking
and feeding on a harbour porpoise. *Marine Biodiversity Records* 8:e108

*Orcinus orca* is a cosmopolitan species and the most widely distributed
marine mammal. Its diet includes over 140 species of fish, cephalopods, sea
birds and marine mammals. However, many populations are specialised on
certain specific prey items. Three genetically distinct populations have
been described in the North Atlantic. Population A (that includes the
Icelandic and Norwegian sub-populations) is believed to be piscivorous, as
is population C, which includes fish-eating killer whales from the Strait
of Gibraltar. In contrast, population B feeds on both fish and marine
mammals. Norwegian killer whales follow the Norwegian spring spawning
herring stock. The only description in the literature of Norwegian
killer whales
feeding on another cetacean species is a predation event on northern
bottlenose whales in 1968. Daily land-based surveys targeting sperm whales
were conducted from the Andenes lighthouse using BigEyes w binoculars (25 ×
, 80 mm). The location of animals at sea was approximated through the use
of an internal reticule system and a graduated wheel. On 24 June 2012 at
3:12 am, an opportunistic sighting of 11 killer whales was made off Andenes
harbour. The whales hunted and fed on a harbour porpoise. Despite these
species having overlapping distributions in Norwegian waters, this is the
first predatory event reported in the literature


It is available at:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9841659&fileId=S1755267215000895

or you can contact me for a copy
orcinus.orca.1...@gmail.com

Best regards,

Mel Cosentino
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[MARMAM] Bushmeat - Information request

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear MARMAMers

I am compiling information about the use of marine mammals (especially
small cetaceans and sirenians) as bait and for human consumption, resulting
from direct hunts or opportunistic catches (e.g., by-catch) occurring in
Africa, especially on the west coast.

I would be very grateful if you would get in touch with me at
orcinus.orca.1...@gmail.com if you have any published literature (e.g.,
scientific articles, reports), news, or contact details of
people/organisations that could provide me with further information (in
English, but also in Spanish or French would be appreciated).

Attached is a list of the literature I found.

Thank you in advance,

A. Mel Cosentino



References



Alfaro & Van Waerebeek (2001). Drowning in a sea of silence: the bushmeat
concept as applied to marine wildlife.

Angelici et al (2001). Some new mammal records from the rainforest of
South-Eastern Nigeria.

Ayissi et al (2011). Report on the exploratory survey of cetaceans and
their status in Cameroon.

Ayissi & Jiofack (2014). Impact assessment on by-catch artisanal fisheries:
sea turtles and mammals in Cameroon, West Africa.

Ayissi et al (2014). Rediscovery of Cameroon Dolphin, the Gulf of Guinea
Population of Sousa teuszii ( Kükenthal , 1892 ).

Bamy et al (2010). Species occurrence of cetaceans in Guinea, including
humpback whales with southern hemisphere seasonality.

Brashares et al (2004). Bushmeat hunting, wildlife declines, and fish
supply in West Africa.

Clapham & Van Waerebeek (2007). Bushmeat and bycatch: the sum of the parts.

Collins et al (2009). The Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii) in
Gabon and Congo: cause for optimism or concern?

Collins (2012). Progress report for Atlantic humpback dolphin work in Gabon
and Congo

Debrah et al (2010). An update on the catch composition and other aspects
of cetacean exploitation in Ghana.

Essuman (2008). Bioaccumulation of platinum group metals in dolphins,
Stenella sp., caught off Ghana.

Fa et al (2006). Getting to grips with the magnitude of exploitation:
Bushmeat in the Cross–Sanaga rivers region, Nigeria and Cameroon.

Leeney et al (2015). Food, Pharmacy, Friend? Bycatch, Direct Take and
Consumption of Dolphins in West Africa.

Lewison & Moore (2012). Improving interview-based assess- ments of sea
turtle and marine mammal bycatch in West Africa: Putting fishing activity
into a socio-economic context.

Maigret (1994) Marine mammals and fisheries in the west Africa

Morissette et al (2010). Ecosystem models clarify the trophic role of
whales off Northwest Africa.

Murphy, et al (1997). Cetacean in Gambian waters.

Ofori-Danson et al (2003). A survey for the conservation of dolphins in
Ghanaian coastal waters.

Robards & Reeves (2011). The global extent and character of marine mammal
consumption by humans: 1970–2009.

Segniagbeto et al (2014). Annotated checklist and fisheries interactions of
cetaceans in Togo, with evidence of Antarctic minke whale in the Gulf of
Guinea.

Sohou et al (2013). Biodiversity and status of cetaceans in Benin, West
Africa: an initial assessment.

Swensson (2005). Bushmeat trade in techiman, Ghana, West Africa.

Thibault & Blaney (2003). The oil industry as an underlying factor in the
bushmeat crisis in central Africa.

Uwagbae & Van Waerebeek (2010). Initial evidence of dolphin takes in the
Niger Delta region and a review of Nigerian cetaceans.

Van Waerebeek et al (1997). Cetacean research in Senegal 1995-97:  An
overview

Van Waerebeek & Ofori-Danson (1999). A first checklist of cetaceans of
Ghana, Gulf of Guinea, and a shore-based survey of interactions with
coastal fisheries.

Van Waerebeek et al (2004). Distribution, Status, and Biology of the
Atlantic Humpback Dolphin, Sousa teuszii (Kükenthal, 1892).

Van Waerebeek et al (2008). Indeterminate status of West African
populations of inshore common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus
cautions against opportunistic live-capture schemes.

Van Waerebeek et al (2008). Preliminary findings on the mass strandings of
melon-headed whale Peponocephala electra on Boavista Island in November
2007, with notes on other cetaceans from the Cape Verde Islands.

Van Waerebeek et al (2009). The cetaceans of Ghana, a validated faunal
checklist.

Waerebeek et al (2014). Cetacean landings at the fisheries port of Dixcove
, Ghana in 2013-14: a preliminary appraisal.

Weir et al (2009). Challenges and priorities for the conservation of the
Vulnerable Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii), with a case study
from Namibe Province , Angola.

Weir et al (2008). Records of Fraser’s dolphin Lagenodelphis hosei Fraser
1956 from the Gulf of Guinea and Angola.

Weir (2010). A review of cetacean occurrence in West African waters from
the Gulf of Guinea to Angola.

Weir et al (2011). West Africa’s Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii):
endemic, enigmatic and soon Endangered?

Weir & Pierce (2013). A review of the human activities impacting cetace

[MARMAM] Early Registration Reminder - International Marine Conservation Congress

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear Marmamers

here is a reminder that the early registration rate for the International
Marine Conservation Congress ends on April 22nd – this coming Tuesday

There is a substantial amount of specific marine mammal conservation
content in the conference including sessions un underwater noise impacts,
several sections on whalewatching, marine mammal ethics/welfare plus
sessions on marine protected areas, fisheries impacts, pollution,
international treaties, marine climate change, presentations on cetaceans,
sirenians, pinnipeds, otters and many, many more topics.

All presenters must register by that date or risk having their presentation
removed from the program. The price increase between early and standard
registration rates is an extra $60, which would get you a pretty decent
bottle of single malt whisky in Scotland, or all 4 seasons of Downton Abbey
on DVD, so for the sake of your career and your taste buds register now !

http://www.conbio.org/mini-sites/imcc-2014/registration-participation/meeting-registration

3rd International Marine Conservation Congress (14-18 August 2014, Glasgow,
UK) 
http://www.conbio.org/mini-sites/imcc-2014
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[MARMAM] Information Request: Dolphin hunts - Human consumption/bait

[A. Mel Cosentino]

Dear MARMAMERS

I am compiling information (in English and Spanish) on direct and
opportunistic hunts of small cetaceans, both for human consumption and for
bait, occurring in South and Central America.

I would be very grateful if you can contact me if you have any published
literature, news, or contact details of people/organisations that could
provide me with further information.

Thank you in advance,

Mel



-- 

A. Mel Cosentino

orcinus.orca.1...@gmail.com




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