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SC/69B/HIM/09
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Resource ID
22101
Access
Open
Document Number
SC/69B/HIM/09
Full Title
Consortium for the Conservation of Atlantic Humpback Dolphin (CCAHD) assessment of bycatch data collection needs
Author
Dolman, S.J., Abule, C.G., Aken, I.A., Ayissi, I., Bamy, I., Samba Bilal, A., Collins, T., Cueto, P., Dah, A., Diallo, S., Djondo, M., Eniang, E., Fogwan, C., Hodgins, N.K., Jefferson, T.A., Keith-Diagne, L., Kema Kema, J.R., Ndjamo, X.N., Mianseko,
Authors Summary
The Consortium for the Conservation of the Atlantic Humpback Dolphin (CCAHD) is a network of scientists and conservation organisations united in the mission of ?Working towards the long-term sustainability of Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii) populations and their habitats through research, awareness, capacity-building and action?. In 2023, the CCAHD Bycatch Working group, which includes IWC Bycatch Coordinator, developed a questionnaire to assess the specific needs to support future efforts to better understand and reduce cetacean bycatch in Atlantic humpback dolphin range countries, including to guide fundraising efforts and to develop projects that provide technical support and, where needed, other types of resources for range country partners. The questionnaire received 28 responses from 13 CCAHD range countries in West and Central Africa, and four international scientists. Thirteen respondents reported on the availability of data for cetacean bycatch in their country?s or area?s fisheries: two respondents (in Ghana and Nigeria) considered data availability good, whereas 10 respondents considered data availability to be poor (Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Mauritania, Morocco and Senegal) or no data (Ivory Coast). Drift nets and purse seines were the most frequently reported gears associated with cetacean bycatch generally, followed in order by fixed static nets, mid-water trawls, bottom trawlers, long-liners and jiggers. Seven respondents (Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria and Senegal) reported that there are records of Atlantic humpback dolphin bycatch. Two respondents did not believe there were Atlantic humpback dolphin bycatch records from their country and four did not know. Seven respondents (from Cameroon, Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Morocco and Senegal
Publisher
IWC
Publication Year
2024
Abstract
The Consortium for the Conservation of the Atlantic Humpback Dolphin (CCAHD)[1] is a network of scientists and conservation organisations united in the mission of ?Working towards the long-term sustainability of Atlantic humpback dolphin (Sousa teuszii) populations and their habitats through research, awareness, capacity-building and action?. The Consortium was formed in 2020 to address the grave conservation concerns for the species, embodied in numerous IWC Scientific Committee recommendations from 1998 onward, including (but not limited to):
2010: Improving the understanding of the causes, levels and impacts of bycatch on Atlantic humpback dolphin;
2010: That regional or sub-regional research projects be conducted and management plans developed to conserve the populations of Atlantic humpback dolphin in particular areas (IWC, 2010);
2019: A wider collaboration among researchers who work on the genus Sousa, which include international collaboration for funding and capacity building, the development of regional and sub-regional research projects and co-ordination of data collection (SC19124).
In 2023, the Consortium?s Outreach and Capacity Working Group collaborated with the CCAHD Bycatch Working group (which includes the IWC Bycatch Coordinator) to develop a questionnaire to assess the general capacity building needs of its partners, as well as the specific needs to support future efforts to better understand and reduce cetacean bycatch in Atlantic humpback dolphin range countries. The aim of the questionnaire was to help guide fundraising efforts and to develop projects that provide the appropriate level of technical support and, where needed, other types of resources for range country partners. Here we present the results of the aspects of the questionnaire that focused on fisheries and cetacean bycatch in order to provide some preliminary insight into perceptions of these issues in the region, and to invite IWC Scientific Committee members to provide feedback and suggestions on how to improve this preliminary inventory to gain wider and potentially more representative results.
[1] https://www.sousateuszii.org/