Human wildlife conflict is a common occurrence around the globe, especially in areas where animals present a threat to human life or livelihoods, such as farming or fishing. These conflicts are often accentuated in small, artisanal communities. Conflict imposes large negative impacts on fisheries, but also on the recovery prospects of these animal populations, hence why management strategies are often difficult to determine. We are working to quantify the impacts of pinniped interactions on fisheries catch and income around the world, as well as the impact of different management actions and climate conditions on the population dynamics and recovery trajectories of different pinniped species.
Fisheries can be severely negatively affected by predation of catch, especially smaller fisheries (i.e. individuals fishing in subsistence or independently). Economic losses not only include the monetary loss of the partially eaten fish, but also the cost of repairing nets, lines and traps damaged by the predator, and any fish that escaped through holes in the gear. However, it is often difficult to ascertain the species that is causing the damage, and more visible species (such as seals) can sometimes be blamed for predation by other less visible species (such as dolphins or dogfish). It is important to ensure the management strategies are suitable for the level of depredation and are species specific.
As apex predators, marine mammals like sea lions and seals (e.g., pinnipeds) play important regulatory roles in marine systems. However, for much of human history, marine mammals have been exploited for meat, their pelts, or due to human wildlife conflict. This exploitation pushed many marine mammal populations to the edge of extinction during the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 20th century, the widespread introduction of protective legislation has allowed many marine mammal populations to recover. Unfortunately, this recovery has increase human wildlife conflict between these species and fisheries.
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