Evidence of deep-sea interactions between toothed whales and longlines.

Toothed whales (odontocetes) feeding on fish caught on hooks in longline fisheries is a growing issue worldwide. The substantial impacts that this behaviour, called depredation, can have on the fishing economy, fish stocks and odontocetes populations, raise a critical need for mitigation solutions to be developed. However, information on when, where and how odontocete depredation occurs underwater is still limited, especially in demersal longline fisheries (fishing gear set on the seafloor). In the present study, we investigated depredation by killer whales (Orcinus orca) and sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) on demersal longlines in the French Patagonian toothfish fishery (Southern Ocean). Using a combination of animal-borne behavioural and longline-attached data loggers, we demonstrated that both species are able to depredate longlines on the seafloor. This study, therefore, suggests that odontocetes whales-longline interaction events at depth may be unrecorded when assessing depredation rates from surface observations during hauling phases only. This result has implications for the management of fisheries facing similar depredation issues as underestimated depredation rates may result in unaccounted fish mortality in fish-stock assessments. Therefore, while further research should be conducted to assess the extent of deep-sea whale-longline interaction events during soaking, the evidence that depredation can occur at any time during the whole fishing process as brought out by this study should be considered in future developments of mitigation solutions to the issue.

Role of sociality in the response of killer whales to an additive mortality event.

In highly social top predators, group living is an ecological strategy that enhances individual fitness, primarily through increased foraging success. Additive mortality events across multiple social groups in populations may affect the social structure, and therefore the fitness, of surviving individuals. This hypothesis was examined in a killer whale (Orcinus orca) population that experienced a 7-y period of severe additive mortality due to lethal interactions with illegal fishing vessels. Using both social and demographic analyses conducted on a unique long-term dataset encompassing periods before, during, and after this event, results indicated a decrease in both the number and the mean strength of associations of surviving individuals during the additive mortality period. A positive significant correlation between association strength and apparent survival suggested that the fitness of surviving individuals was impacted by the additive mortality event. After this event, individuals responded to the loss of relatives in their social groups by associating with a greater number of other social groups, likely to maintain a functional group size that maximized their foraging success. However, these associations were loose; individuals did not reassociate in highly stable social groups, and their survival remained low years after the mortality event. These findings demonstrate how the disruption of social structure in killer whales may lead to prolonged negative effects of demographic stress beyond an additive mortality event. More importantly, this study shows that sociality has a key role in the resilience of populations to human-induced mortality; this has major implications for the conservation of highly social and long-lived species.

Commercial fishing patterns influence odontocete whale-longline interactions in the Southern Ocean.

The emergence of longline fishing around the world has been concomitant with an increase in depredation-interactions by odontocete whales (removal of fish caught on hooks), resulting in substantial socio-economic and ecological impacts. The extent, trends and underlying mechanisms driving these interactions remain poorly known. Using long-term (2003-2017) datasets from seven major Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) longline fisheries, this study assessed the levels and inter-annual trends of sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) and/or killer whale (Orcinus orca) interactions as proportions of fishing time (days) and fishing area (spatial cells). The role of fishing patterns in explaining between-fisheries variations of probabilities of odontocete interactions was investigated. While interaction levels remained globally stable since the early 2000s, they varied greatly between fisheries from 0 to >50% of the fishing days and area. Interaction probabilities were influenced by the seasonal concentration of fishing effort, size of fishing areas, density of vessels, their mobility and the depth at which they operated. The results suggest that between-fisheries variations of interaction probabilities are largely explained by the extent to which vessels provide whales with opportunities for interactions. Determining the natural distribution of whales will, therefore, allow fishers to implement better strategies of spatio-temporal avoidance of depredation.