Incomplete reporting of whale, dolphin and porpoise ‘bycatch’ revealed by molecular monitoring of Korean markets

Abstract

We report the results of molecular monitoring of 'whalemeat' markets in the Republic of (South) Korea based on nine systematic surveys from February 2003 to February 2005. As Korea has no programme of commercial or scientific whaling and there is a closure on the hunting of dolphins and porpoises, the only legal source of these products was assumed to be incidental fisheries mortalities ('bycatch') as reported by the government to the International Whaling Commission. Species identification of 357 products using mitochondrial DNA control region or cytochrome b sequences and the web-based programme DNA-surveillance revealed three species of baleen whales (North Pacific minke, common form Bryde's and humpback), three species of beaked whales (Cuvier's, Stejneger's and Blainville's), seven species of dolphins (short-finned pilot, false killer and killer whales; Risso's, bottlenose, common and Pacific white-sided dolphins) and two species of porpoises (harbour and finless). Comparison of market products with official records revealed a number of discrepancies. Of the eight species identified on the markets in 2003, three were not reported in official records for that year. Of the 11 species identified in 2004, five were not reported as bycatch, although one species, a humpback whale, was reported as 'stranded'. We also found significant inconsistencies in the expected frequencies of products from most species, including a large over-representation of finless porpoises and false killer whales. We suggest ways in which market surveys could be improved to provide better information on the magnitude of fisheries bycatch and other illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) exploitation of wildlife.

Local abundance, apparent survival and site fidelity of Bryde’s whales in the Hauraki Gulf (New Zealand) inferred from long-term photo-identification

“…In New Zealand, Bryde's whales are reported only for the north-eastern coast of the North Island (Baker & Madon 2007, Wiseman 2008) and occur year-round in the Hauraki Gulf (Behrens & Constantine 2008, Wiseman et al 2011). The whales have been ob served throughout the inner Gulf in water depths ranging from 12 to 60 m (Wiseman et al 2011).…”

Marine Mammals in Asian Societies; Trends in Consumption, Bait, and Traditional Use

“…Some of these have already been utilized to reveal discrepancies in reported marine mammal bycatch, to determine the magnitude of trade and to develop kits that rapidly identify marine mammal species in situ in Asian markets (Baker et al, 2006(Baker et al, , 2007Lukoschek et al, 2009;Lo et al, 2013). These tools, designed specifically for non-specialists, will allow quantitative data collection both on type and volume of marine mammal parts in Asian markets.…”

Status of J stock minke whales (Balaenoptera acutorostrata)

“…Actually, several studies reported that there was a high number of illegal, unreported or unregulated catches for this stock (Baker et al 2006(Baker et al , 2007Lukoschek et al 2009). Also, the default value of R max was used to estimate PBR for minke whales in this area because the data on R max were insufficient.…”