NAMMCO SC Working Group on Marine Mammals and Fisheries Interactions
The NAMMCO Scientific Committee Working Group on Marine Mammals Fisheries Interactions will meet in Iceland, 15-17 April 2009, to addressMARINE MAMMALS AND FISHERIES IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC: ESTIMATING CONSUMPTION AND MODELLING INTERACTIONS. The meeting will be attended by members of the Scientifc Commitee and invited experts including experts from non-member countries.
The general Terms of Reference for this Working Group are derived from the recent Council and Management Committee reports (NAMMCO 17):
“There is an ongoing request to the Scientific Committee to monitor progress made in multi-species modelling and in the collection of input data and to decide when enough progress has been made to warrant further efforts in this area. In addition, the Scientific Committee has been requested to review the results of the Icelandic programme on the feeding ecology of minke whales and multi-species modelling as soon as these become available.
In addressing the standing requests on ecosystem modelling and marine mammal fisheries interaction, the Scientific Committee is requested to extend the focus to include all areas under NAMMCO jurisdiction. In the light of the distributional shifts (of species) seen under T-NASS 2007, the Scientific Committee should investigate dynamic changes in spatial distribution due to ecosystem changes and functional responses.”
In addition, there is an ongoing request for advice from NAMMCO 15:
“The Scientific Committee is requested to evaluate how both a projected decrease and a projected increase in the total population of Northwest Atlantic harp seals might affect the proportion of animals summering in Greenland.”
