The US banned imports of marine mammals in 1972 and the EU followed in the 80’s with an import ban on seal products. The International Whaling Commission then implemented a global moratorium on whaling in 1986. The reason for these restrictions on commercial sealing and whaling were due to centuries of overexploitation and animal welfare concerns. About four decades have now passed, where these top predators have had almost no natural competitors, and their populations have therefore increased, as well as their distribution. According to a rough estimate there are now 14.5 million seals in the N-Atlantic and Arctic, and 7.7 million whales and cetaceans. The biomass these animals need to consume to maintain themselves is close to 200 million tonnes, while commercial fisheries in the same area (FAO21 and FAO27) is around 10 million tonnes.
Given that there is no whaling or sealing to take place in the foreseeable future, it is likely that these populations will increase exponentially until reaching the carrying capacity of the ecosystems they live in. The seafood industry is therefore starting to be affected by increased competition and harmful interaction with the animals, which results for example in loss of fishing gear or difficulties in carrying out fishing activities.
The aim of the project is to create a network of professionals in the N-Atlantic that can share knowledge and data, analyse the data and attempt to forecast the future. The project will have a webpage that will present information on marine mammals and impact on fisheries. The project will also facilitate workshops and an international conference, where stakeholders will be included in the discussions. The conference proceedings will be published as a report. The project will provide information that policy makers, scientists and fishing professionals can use to better understand the impact of marine mammals on the seafood sector and fishing communities. The project will also facilitate meetings in selected fishing communities where project partners will present information and engage in dialogue with local fishermen and other stakeholders. These meetings will for example be held in Neskaupstaður (IS), Fuglafjørður (FO) and Skagen (DK) which are highly dependent on pelagic fisheries.
The primary target group of the project are fishers, general public, policy makers and other stakeholders. There are already great concerns about the impact of marine mammals on stock size and distribution of some commercial fish species, and the concept with the project is to present available knowledge which is likely to confirm or refute persistent myths.
