Pinnipeds on the west coast of South America

In Peru and Chile, pinnipeds like the South American sea lion (Otaria flavescens) and South American fur seal (Arctocephalus australis) damage fishing nets and compete with small-scale fishers for fish.

In this research we 1) identify the key concerns fishers have regarding their interactions with sea lions, 2) quantify the economic impacts of sea lions on fishers’ income, and 3) project the impacts of different management strategies on pinniped population dynamics.

Small-scale fisheries in Chile
UAV footage of the South American sea lion and South American fur seal in Peru

Selected collaborators

Stefan Gelcich, Pontifical Catholic University of Chile

Joanna Alfaro-Shigueto, ProDelphinus Peru

Jeffrey Mangel, ProDelphinus Peru

William Arlidge, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries

Rodrigo Oyanedel, University of Oxford

George Swan, Universidad Austral de Chile

2

Davis, KJ, J Alfaro-Shigueto, WNS Arlidge, M Burton, JC Mangel, M Mills, EJ Milner-Gulland, J Palma Duque, C Romero-de-Diego & S Gelcich. 2021. Local disconnects in global discourses - the unintended consequences of marine mammal protection on small-scale fishers. Conservation Letters. e12835. 10.1111/conl.12835.

 

Preprint:

Davis, KJ. 2021. Managed culls mean extinction for a marine mammal population when combined with extreme climate impacts. bioRxiv, DOI: BIORXIV/2021/462338.