Strandings-based model of cetacean demography and impacts of bycatch

Participants: Jeff Moore (lead), Andy Read

Marine mammals are notoriously difficult for obtaining information about survival rates, population growth rates, or population sizes. This makes management extremely challenging, because without these types of information, it is difficult to assess the conservation implications of observed bycatch levels for different species. I am using a Bayesian approach to improve existing models that estimate population growth rates for marine mammals based on age-structured strandings and bycatch data. These models should assist management for marine mammal species that are of conservation concern due to bycatch, such as harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the northwest Atlantic and franciscana dolphins (Pontoporia blainvillei) off the eastern coast of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina