On the U.S. West Coast, reports of whales entangled in fishing gear increased dramatically in 2014. In this study, a time series of fishing activity maps was developed from 2009 to 2016 for the four fixed‐gear fisheries most commonly implicated in entanglements. Maps were generated using vessel monitoring system (VMS) data linked to port‐level landings databases, which were related to entangled whale reports over the same time period and with modelled distributions of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae Borowski. Over the full study period, neither marked increases in fishing activity nor changes in fisheries footprints within regions with high whale densities were detected. By contrast, a delayed fishery opening in California due to a harmful algal bloom in spring of 2016 led to ~5–7 times average levels of Dungeness crab Metacarcinus magister (Dana) fishing activity, which was consistent with a high rate of entanglement in that year. These results are consistent with current hypotheses that habitat compression caused by a marine heatwave increased the overlap of whales with fishing activity, despite minimal changes in the fisheries themselves. This study adds to literature on bycatch of protected species in otherwise sustainable fisheries, highlighting the value of using VMS data for reducing human–wildlife conflict in the ocean.

中文翻译：

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与美国西海岸鲸鱼纠缠度上升相关的固定齿轮渔业的足迹

在美国西海岸，2014年鲸鱼被渔具纠缠的报告急剧增加。在这项研究中，从2009年到2016年，为最常涉及纠缠的四个固定渔场绘制了一系列捕鱼活动图。地图是使用船舶监控系统（VMS）数据生成的，该数据链接到港口级着陆数据库，该数据与同一时间段内纠缠的鲸鱼报告有关，并且具有座头鲸Megapatera novaeangliae的建模分布博罗夫斯基。在整个研究期内，未发现鲸鱼密度高的地区的捕捞活动显着增加或渔业足迹的变化。相比之下，由于有害藻类在2016年春季在加利福尼亚州开放而导致的渔业延迟开放导致Dungeness蟹Metacarcinus magister平均水平的约5–7倍（达娜（Dana））的钓鱼活动，与那年的高纠缠率保持一致。这些结果与当前的假设一致，尽管海洋本身的变化很小，但海洋热浪造成的栖息地压缩增加了鲸鱼与捕捞活动的重叠。这项研究增加了有关在其他方面可持续的渔业中兼捕保护物种的文献，强调了使用VMS数据减少海洋中人与野生生物冲突的价值。