| Project leader: | Prof. Prof. h. c. Dr. Ursula Siebert |
|---|---|
| Contact person: | Kornelia Wolff-Schmidt |
| Project term: | June 2014-May 2017 |
| Sponsorship: | Ministry of Energy, Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Areas of Schleswig-Holstein (Ministerium für Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt und ländliche Räume Schleswig-Holstein, MELUR) |
Project description
The project´s aim is to obtain an exact survey of the number of harbour porpoises found dead or bycaught.
Every animal´s biological basic data like age, gender, weight, location, collection date and peculiarities are to be registered. These basic data are important, because they are transferred to ASCOBANS, ICES and IWC. Therefore, standardized and reviewed data records are to be produced.
Furthermore, new research methods for the recognition of bycatch shall be studied on recently dead harbour porpoises, with special focus on how to recognise bycatch and examination of the health status. For the bycatch diagnostics, new forensic methods are to be tested, to provide reliable examination results. Concerning these, recent bycaught harbour porpoises shall be autopsied and examined histologically, immunocytochemically and microbiologically as quickly as possible.
To gain as many bycaught harbour porpoises as possible, a close cooperation with the fishermen is to be established and they shall be supported regarding the delivery of the animals.
