Harbour Porpoise Phocoena phocena

Harbour Porpoise Conservation

There is concern that harbour porpoise populations have declined as a result of fisheries bycatch (Baird and Guenther 1995). Bycatch refers to accidental catch by fisheries targeting other species. The Atlantic population is designated as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada and the Pacific population is designated as special concern (Baird 2003). The porpoise is designated as a strategic stock under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species has less concern for the species as it does for some stocks that have been severely depleted in particular in the Black Sea region where it might be endangered. The major concern is that the harbour porpoise sometimes become tangled in fishing nets and some have carried high loads of industrial contaminants in some areas (e.g. Gaskin et al. 1971). The Pacific population in the USA is estimated to be about 100,000 animals.