Endangered Species Research has published “Impacts of fisheries on the Critically Endangered humpback dolphin Sousa chinensis population in the eastern Taiwan Strait” authored by a team of international experts from institutions in Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.  The paper is the result of an applied workshop held under the auspices of the Eastern Taiwan Strait Sousa Technical Advisory Working Group (ETSSTAWG), an international group of scientists dedicated to providing science-based advice in support of protecting one of the world’s most endangered cetaceans. Winkler Partners and a number other Taiwan NGOs and government agencies supported the applied workshop and field research in Taiwan.

The paper concludes that to ensure recovery of the Critically Endangered subpopulation of <100 Sousa Chinensis in the Eastern Taiwan Strait

…mortality due to human causes should be reduced to <1 individual every 7 y[ears]. Fisheries bycatch is the most serious threat to these dolphins and needs to be eliminated as soon as possible to avoid extinction. Preventing the use of trammel nets, other gillnets, and trawling through their habitat would be the single most effective conservation measure for ETS Sousa in the short term.

Winkler Partners’ managing partner Robin Winkler is listed as a co-author.

The paper can be downloaded here.