The Workshop on MArine Mammal BYcatch estimation (WKMAMBY) will meet to provide estimates of the annual numbers of bycaught marine mammals and/or multiannual bycatch rates within the OSPAR maritime area.
WKMAMBY is directly linked to a special request from OSPAR to ICES on the production of marine mammal bycatch estimates rates of the priority species: harbour porpoise (Phocoena Phocoena); common dolphin (Delphinus delphis); grey seal (Halichoerus grypus); and considering the candidate species minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) and harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) within the OSPAR maritime area.
Work carried out in this workshop will contribute to the advice responding to this special request.
To address this request, this workshop will (among others):
Review and evaluate information submitted through a dedicated data call on the bycatch of the species of interest, aggregated by ICES statistical rectangle.
Apply the Bycatch Evaluation and Assessment Matrix (BEAM) methodology to determine data quality and suitability for bycatch rate estimation for each combination of species of interest, gear, and OSPAR assessment unit (AU) of interest.
Where possible, estimate multiannual bycatch rates (BPUEs) and/or annual bycatch numbers for each combination of species of interest, gear, and OSPAR AU of interest.
Read the full term of reference for WKMAMBY at the ICES library.
Participation and registration
Both meetings will be held at the ICES HQ in Copenhagen, with possibility to join online. Register via registration link (deadline to register 27 March).
Interested experts are highly encouraged to attend both the data preparation meeting and workshop meeting. Prior experience with the data and evaluation process to be used, specifically ICES WGBYC data and the BEAM evaluation process is preferrable.
If the workshop is oversubscribed, ICES reserves the right, in consultation with the workshop chairs, to select the final participants based on their expertise, gender and geographical distribution.
