Year:
1999
Journal/Publisher Name:
IWC Scientific Committee
Volume (Issue #):
SC/51/SM41
Page #s:
8
Contact information:
Department of Marine Fisheries
Danish Institute for Fisheries Research
Charlottenlund Castle
DK-2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark
Summary:
Bottom set gillnets with pingers (LU-1, 8 signals, 145 dB, 300 ms, random signal intervals) attached were tested against standard nets and nets with dummy pingers (double blind) to determine if they could reduce the incidental capture of harbour porpoises. The proportion (number of nets with porpoises/number without) of harbour porpoise bycatch was reduced from 0.00229 and 0.00295 for nets with dummy pingers and no pingers respectively, to 0.00015 for nets with active pingers. The difference in bycatch rates between nets with active and dummy pingers was statistically significant but not between nets with dummy pingers and with no pingers.