The SeaDoc Society is a program of the Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.
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Does Bycatch Threaten Dolphins and Porpoises?

Publication Date: 
October 2008

pacific white-sided dolphins

A recent SeaDoc Society-funded project found that salmon gill net fisheries could pose a threat to populations of harbor and Dall’s porpoise but not Pacific white-sided dolphin in British Columbia. Regional salmon gillnet fisheries accidentally catch and kill dolphins and porpoises and it is critical to know when such bycatch threatens these cetacean populations so that protective actions can be taken.

Measuring the impact of bycatch is common on the Washington side of the ecosystem; however, this is the first study to estimate the population-level impact of bycatch in British Columbia. The SeaDoc Society is committed to improving the health of marine wildlife throughout the Salish Sea without regard to national borders. Projects like this study, conducted by Dr. Rob Williams, Anna Hall and Arliss Winship, are helping the US and Canada cooperatively manage and protect species like dolphins and porpoises, species that don’t recognize international borders.

This study would not have been possible without private donations from citizens like you. Thank you! For more information or to download a copy of this paper, published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, see www.seadocsociety.org/node/182

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Healthy ecosystems support economic prosperity. The Salish Sea provides abundant natural capital that contributes substantially to the financial prosperity of the region. Unhealthy ecosystems cost money because we lose the opportunity to benefit from them. The Salish Sea's deteriorating health threatens our economic well being and quality of life. SeaDoc uses science to find solutions to the problems facing the fish, wildlife and people of the Salish Sea.

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