Wild Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Recreational Fishing in Sarasota Bay Conflicts in a Community

Date of Award

2007

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Harley, Heidi

Keywords

Dolphin, Environment, Fishing

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

Plastic marine debris, especially fishing gear, is a threat to marine life. Wild bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) interactions with recreational fishing gear caused three dolphin mortalities in Sarasota Bay in 2006, a loss of two percent of the resident dolphin community. The dolphins may be interacting with fishing gear during foraging and depredation. Depredation by dolphins has been documented in other fishing areas, but not in Sarasota Bay. The current study surveyed recreational anglers (n=155) and assessed the Monofilament Recovery and Recycling Program (MRRP) in Sarasota County. Many anglers (65.8%) had heard of the MRRP and 53.5% were recycling line. An estimated 435,859 feet of line has been recycled in Sarasota County to date. Overall, 26.4% of the anglers reported seeing depredation events, usually involving a single dolphin, but groups of dolphins were also reported. The average group size was 2.6 dolphins. Some anglers (n=34) reported that dolphins returned an average of 4.5 times to depredate repeatedly, other anglers (n=20) reported single depredation events. Most anglers (n=124) expressed positive attitudes towards dolphins, 29 anglers expressed negative attitudes, and 2 anglers expressed noncommittal attitudes. Results suggest that depredation by bottlenose dolphins may be common at some shoreline fishing sites in Sarasota County, but more research is needed. Efforts to mitigate fishing gear debris and depredation by dolphins in Sarasota Bay should continue to prevent escalating conflicts between dolphins and recreational anglers.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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