University College Cork (UCC) scientists have said action is “urgently needed” to protect Ireland’s harbour porpoise population in “hotspots” where they may be at risk from gillnet fishing.
As The Sunday Independent reports, research by the UCC scientists has identified the Celtic Sea and Continental Shelf waters off the west coast as particularly high risk areas for the marine mammals.
Dr Tiffany Goh of UCC was lead author of a paper published in the scientific journal Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems.
The paper maps areas of potential interaction between harbour porpoises and gillnet fisheries across Ireland's Exclusive Economic Zone between 2015 and 2022.
The scientists also estimated the maximum number of porpoises that could be removed annually without compromising long-term viability.
They say that loss of less than ten mammals annually could have a serious impact on population levels.
Leading Research – Dr Tiffany Goh of University College Cork, lead author of a new study identifying Irish harbour porpoise hotspots where interactions with gillnet fisheries pose conservation risks
EU regulations require the use of acoustic devices known as “pingers” on gillnets, made of monofilament nylon mesh, to deter harbour porpoises and marine mammals from approaching gear.
However, monitoring this at sea is up to individual EU member states and convictions are rare, Prof Emer Rogan of School of UCC’s Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences told the newspaper.
In June 2023, Ireland’s Sea Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) secured a conviction when the master of a French-registered fishing vessel pleaded guilty in Cork Circuit Criminal Court to not having the requisite “pingers” or acoustic deterrent devices fixed on two sets of gillnets.
Prof Rogan said that there could be other factors influencing the marine mammal’s population decline in these waters, but gillnets are the “biggest killer”.
Kerry-based marine expert Dr Kevin Flannery said he was not surprised by the UCC team’s findings, as there had been a marked increase in gillnetting effort by a fleet of 120 French-registered and Spanish-owned vessels from the Bay of Biscay up off the Irish coast and north to Scotland.
“You think of the impact of 120 boats in these waters, each with 15km of gillnetting gear,”he said.
“France has recognised there is a risk for marine mammals by closing the Bay of Biscay for a period every year,”he said.
“There has been a decline in Irish boats gillnetting, with maybe ten vessels over 15 metres involved,”he said.
Read The Sunday Independent here
