Dolphin Pinger Project at the Foundation for the Center for Research of Whales

The Foundation for Center for Research of Whales is working to obtain "acoustic pingers" to reduce the the number of whale, dolphin, and porpoise entanglements in fishing lines. Acoustic Pingers are small devices (6 inches in length) that attach to nets. Each Pinger emits a sonic noise that is audible to whales, porpoises and dolphins. Acoustic Pingers do not prevent these species from being around the presence of fishing boats or nets, but they have been proven to be effective in preventing entanglements into nets and accidental deaths.

It is wrongly thought that people who live in certain countries or in poverty are environmentally unaware or unconscious of being more eco-friendly. While it is true that many of these people live a 'subsistence living', they still will know when harm is being done to the environment, such as the accidental deaths of dolphins in fishing nets. The Foundation has, as a goal; to provide Pingers to fisherman off the coast of Puerto Lopez, Ecuador.

By providing fishermen with Pingers, we believe they will embrace this technology and begin to utilize them on their nets. This project hopes to involve the local fisherman in the 'process' of saving the dolphins thus giving them more ownership and a stake in the success of the project.

Each Pinger costs around $70 and depending on the size of the fishing vessel and number of nets, each boat will be equipped with at least one Pinger. As the Pinger Project grows, we will expand into neighboring communities. Our initial goal is to obtain 100 Pingers for usage on fishing vessels in the Puerto Lopez and Machalilla National park region. An educational component to the Pinger Project/ ByCatch Project is a side benefit. A good example of this is when an accidental death of a dolphin occurs in a fishing net, students who have shown an interest in marine science are involved in the autopsy. In this case a new species of dolphins new to the Ecuadorian waters was found in the nets. An autopsy was performed as a learning tool to students. This unfortunate example highlights the need to purchase Pingers for local fisherman.

Current research is now being conducted in and around Puerto Lopez, Ecuador and within the boundaries of Machalilla National Park. Data collected during the spring and summer of 2009 involve the ByCatch Research Project (Data obtained from fishing vessels concerning number of fish and species caught in nets). To date (August 2009), there have been a total of 5 dolphins entangled in local fishing nets. In addition there have been a total of 516 different types of species caught in the fishing nets during this same time (300 transects and close to 3000 hours spent on the water—as of August 2009).

Previous research (Gazo, M., Gonzalvo, J., & Aguilar, A. 2008) shows Pingers are an effective means to reduce the number of accidental entanglements and deaths of dolphins. Thus our goals for this project center upon the following:

Work with local fisherman in and around Puerto Lopez, Ecuador and Machalilla National Park.
Build upon data completed during the spring and summer of 2009 from the ByCatch Research Project conducted in affiliation with: Castro, C., Rosero, P., Ministry of Tourism—Ecuador, Parque Nacional Machalilla, Comision Permanente Del Pacifico Sur, Foundation for Center for Research of Whales, & Pacific Whale Foundation.
Rather than just expecting fisherman to prevent accidental dolphin deaths or entanglements, we hope to 'involve" the fisherman in this process by making them be an incremental part of the success of the overall project.
Voluntary participation and Pinger use is encouraged, thus building upon the success of other fisherman and not forcing them to become actively involved.
Publish results of Pingers in relation to data collected during the ByCatch Research Project (Data collection set to run April through December 09).

References

Gazo, M., Gonzalvo, J., & Aguilar, A. (2008). Fisheries Research, 92(1), 70-75

Affiliations

Dra. Cristina Castro—Director Pacific Whale Foundation—Ecuador
Patty Rosero—Project Manager—ByCatch Research Project
Ministry of Tourism—Ecuador,
Parque Nacional Machalilla—Ecuador
Comision Permanente Del Pacifico Sur—Ecuador
Dr. Jim Lehmann--Foundation for Center for Research of Whales