An assessment of marine mammal interactions with longline gear in the north Atlantic ocean

A spatial model was fit to the interactions of the Canadian longline fleet with marine mammals. The model was used to predict the total annual interactions from 1982 to 2017 using the North Atlantic monthly longline effort obtained from ICCAT’s Task II catch and effort database. Estimated interactions declined in the past five years to near the low levels of the late 1980s and early 1990s while fishing effort remained relatively constant until the most recent four years when it declined to a 30 year low. The interaction rate has been declining over the last four years.