HC Deb 03 March 2004 vol 418 cc947-9W
Andrew Mackinlay

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what projections she has made of the future population of(a) dolphins and (b) porpoises within (i) British waters and (ii)European Union waters; and if she will make a statement. [156213]

Mr. Bradshaw

The Secretary of State has made no projections to date on the future populations of dolphins and porpoises in British and Union waters.

However, the Government is supporting new survey work to he undertaken in 2004–05 by a consortium of international researchers, co-ordinated by the sea Mammal Research Unit, on the distribution and abundance of small cetaceans —particularly harbour

2002 Report of the Advisory Committee on Ecosystems of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)
Species Year ICES Area or geographical locality Abundance estimate 95 per cent. Confidence limits Method Reference
Harbour porpoise
1994 IVa 98,564 66,679–145,697 Ship-based line transect Hammond et al., 2002
IVb + c 169,888 124,121–232,530
Vlif+g + h+j 36,280 12,828–102,604
Bottlenose dolphin
1992 Moray Firth (southwestern IVa) 129 110–174 Photographic mark-recap Photographic identification or direct observation. Wilson et al, 1999
2001 French coasts Vile Villa 250–300 n/a ICES, 2002
1991–1993 Cornwall 15 n/a ICES, 1996
1994–1995 Dorset 5 n/a
2001 Cardigan Bay, Waliis 135 85–214 White and Webb, 1995 Baines et al. ,2002
213 183–279 Ship-based line transect

porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis)—in the shelf waters of the Atlantic margin, the North Sea and adjacent waters. This work will include development of methods of monitoring abundance and identifying population trends between major decadal surveys, and recommendations for monitoring protocols by individual species and areas.

international funding is being sought in support of this work and the UK has pledged £275,000 towards it.

Andrew Mackinlay

To ask the Secretary of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the(a) dolphin and (b) porpoise populations within (i) British waters and (ii)European Union waters; what the estimate was for these species 20 years ago; and if she will make a statement. [156214]

Mr. Bradshaw

Obtaining population estimates for cetaceans is difficult. There is a wide margin of error around most abundance estimates and the geographical limits of most biological populations of dolphin species are not known.

To date, major surveys of cetacean distribution or abundance have not been Carried out at regular intervals. The following table gives figures from the 2002 report of the Advisory Committee on Ecosystems of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) illustrating the latest information on the populations and abundance of small cetaceans occurring in UK waters. The populations are given in terms of ICES areas or geographical locality. A map showing the ICES areas has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

A consortium of international researchers, co-ordinated by the Sea Mammal Research Unit, is planning to carry out a survey of the distribution and abundance of small cetacean— particularly harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena), bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and common dolphins (Delphinus delphis)—in 2004–05. The survey area is intended to cover the shelf waters of the Atlantic margin, the North Sea and adjacent waters. International funding is being sought in support of this work and the UK has already pledged £275,000 towards it.

Reliable estimates for dolphin abundance in British and European Union waters in 1984 are not available.

Species Year ICES Area or geographical locality Abundance estimate 95 per cent. Confidence limits Method Reference
White-beaked and, Atlantic white-sided dolphins
1994 IVa 1,685 690–4,113 Ship-based line transect Hammond et al, 2002
IVb 9,242 5,344–15,981
Vllf+ g + h + j 833 159–4,360
Atlantic white-sided dolphin
1998 Faroes-Shetland channel 21,371 10,000–45,000 Ship-based line transect Macleod, 2001
1998 Vla(N) 74,626 35,000–160,000
2000 Parts of VI a&b VI1 b/c, VI Ij&k 5,490 1,134–10,015 O'Cadhla et al, 2001
Common dolphin
1994 VUf + g + h + j parts of VI a&b 75,449 22.900–284,900 Ship-based tine transect Hammond et al, 2002
2000 VII b/c, Vllj&k 4,496 2,414–9,320 O'Cadhla et al., 2001
1993 Bay of Biscay 61,888 35,461–108,010 Goujon et al.,1993
Striped dolphin
1993 Bay of Biscay 73,843 36,113–150,990 Ship-based line transect Goujon etal., 1993

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