Spatiotemporal patterns of overlap between short-finned pilot whales and the U.S. pelagic longline fishery in the Mid-Atlantic Bight: An assessment to inform the management of fisheries bycatch

Abstract

Short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) depredate pelagic longlines along the shelf break of the Mid-Atlantic Bight. The mortality and serious injury of short-finned pilot whales in the U.S. pelagic longline fishery recently exceeded Potential Biological Removal levels defined under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, and bycatch mitigation techniques developed to date have been unsuccessful. We examine the spatial and temporal characteristics of pilot whale habitat use and longline fishing effort, quantify spatiotemporal patterns of pilot whale bycatch based on environmental factors, and assess the potential for a spatial management approach to mitigate pilot whale bycatch. We assess patterns of overlap and bycatch of pilot whales and longlines by applying Area Under the Curve and Williamson’s Spatial Overlap Index analyses to telemetry data from short-finned pilot whales, along with longline fishing effort and Pelagic Observer Program (POP) fisheries observer data from 2014 and 2015. We found that proximity to the 1000 m isobath, season, and sea surface temperature (SST) were important variables influencing pilot whale-longline overlap and POP bycatch rates. Pilot whale density was consistently highest immediately inshore of the 1000 m isobath, but longline effort varied seasonally relative to the 1000 m isobath. Resultant seasonal patterns in pilot whale-longline overlap relative to the 1000 m isobath were strongly and significantly correlated with POP bycatch rates; the highest bycatch rates primarily occurred in fall and winter months, when longline effort shifted inshore near the 1000 m isobath. We observed differences in the distribution of logbook and POP longline sets relative to the 1000 m isobath; POP sets were more dispersed relative to this feature while the overall distribution of longline effort was typically focused at the 1000 m isobath. Since bycatch primarily occurred close to the 1000 m isobath, more bycatch might be observed if the observer effort better reflected the overall distribution of longline effort. In winter months, POP bycatch occurred in cooler waters than most observations of tagged pilot whales, and therefore the relationship between bycatch and SST during winter months requires further exploration. Together, our results suggest that a spatial management approach could be effective in reducing pilot whale bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery, and an improved understanding of the relationships between pilot whale bycatch and dynamic variables might allow high-risk regions for pilot whale bycatch to be further delineated.