Lauren Wild , University of Alaska Southeast, Sitka Campus, Sitka, AK Abstract – Sperm whales remove fish from commercial fishing gear worldwide. In the Gulf of Alaska, they are targeting sablefish caught on commercial longline fishing vessels. The Southeast Alaska Sperm Whale Avoidance Project (SEASWAP) was formed in 2003 by fishermen and scientists to study… Read more »
SEASWAP researchers are heading to San Francisco this December, 2015 for the Biennial Conference of the Society for Marine Mammalogy. Dr. Aaron Thode, Jan Straley, and Lauren Wild will be giving oral presentations during the conference on SEASWAP activities. Kicking off the conference, they will be joined by Dr. Russ Andrews and Victoria O’Connell at… Read more »
View Map On September 13, 2015 a sperm whale was tagged in Chatham Strait. A near-real-time map of whale location is available by clicking the View Map button above. For more information on how to get involved with an avoidance network and for updates while fishing, please contact SEASWAP at (907) 738-4494.
In Southeast Alaska the state of Alaska manages a limited-entry sablefish fishery in the inside waters of Chatham Strait, with 78 permit holders permitted to fish the area. The fishery opens August 15 and closes November 15. On September 16, 2014, one month after the Chatham Strait black cod fishery opened, SEASWAP tagged two sperm whales… Read more »