Hobart

Seminar Abstract

Friday 13 February 2009, 11.30am (Tas time)
CSIRO Auditorium, Hobart

Philip Hammond
Sea Mammal Research Unit
Gatty Marine Laboratory
University of St Andrews, UK

Distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the European Atlantic: large scale surveys to inform conservation and management

The European Union Habitats Directive places considerable requirements on Member States with respect to conservation, including for all species of cetaceans. They must, inter alia, maintain species at, or restore them to, favourable conservation status; undertake surveillance of the conservation status of species; and ensure that incidental capture (bycatch) does not have a serious negative impact. The main species bycaught in these waters is the harbour porpoise, concern about which led to the SCANS survey or the North Sea and adjacent waters in 1994 to obtain the first estimates of abundance. Bycatch was shown to be likely unsustainable in some areas. Ten years later, work was initiated to extend area and species coverage and update abundance estimates, resulting in the SCANS-II (2005) and CODA (2007) surveys of shelf and offshore Atlantic waters, respectively. This seminar presents the results of these surveys to obtain information on the distribution and abundance of cetaceans in the European Atlantic. Topics covered include organisation, developments in data collection and analysis methods, changes (or not) in the distribution and abundance of cetacean species between 1994 and 2005, and the value (or not) of the results to EU Member States in the context of the Habitats Directive.

Seminar Recording

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Location:
CSIRO = Marine Laboratories Auditorium, Castray Esplanade, Hobart

For further information, or to schedule a seminar, contact:
To schedule a seminar, contact:
Clothilde Langlais, (Oceanographic seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5399
Natalie Kelly, (Biology/Modelling seminars) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research 0438 452 483
Jillian Enraght-Moony, (seminar administrator) CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (03) 6232 5320
Communications Manager, Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems CRC (03) 6226 2265
Margaret Hazelwood, Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies (IASOS) University of Tasmania (03) 6226 2971

Last updated 21/07/09