A review of harbour porpoises, Phocoena phocoena, in Irish waters

E. Rogan, S. D. Berrow

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper reviews and summarises published and unpublished information on harbour porpoises in Irish waters and presents results of recent research. Stranded and bycaught animals were used to examine size at maturity composition of prey species in the stomach contents and contamination of total and methyl mercury, organochlorines and radionuclides. A review of published and unpublished records of incidental capture revealed 43 records of harbour porpoise bycatch in Irish waters. Most porpoises (98%) were caught in gillnets with 26 (63%) of these being caught in static gillnets and 12 (29%) in tangle nets. It was estimated that the total annual bycatch of harbour porpoises was between 1825 and 2049 for the combined Irish and UK fleets.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)595-605
Number of pages11
JournalUnknown Journal
Publication statusPublished - 1996

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