Fisheries by-catch poses the single greatest threat to cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoises) populations. Despite this, by-catch of cetaceans does not receive proportionate levels of research or management effort. The contribution of small-scale fisheries to cetacean by-catch is generally overlooked because of the extreme data paucity in these fisheries. Here, we assess the likely geographic distribution of by-catch risk posed to the odontocetes (toothed whales) at the global scale. We combine species’ occurrence and estimates of fisheries susceptibility for all 72 marine toothed whale species with estimates of small-scale fisheries’ gillnet fishing pressure across 163 marine fishing nations. We show that the by-catch risk from small-scale fisheries is likely greatest in low- and middle-income regions, generally in the tropics and sub-tropics. Our findings highlight a “wicked problem”, that the highest by-catch risks primarily occur in regions with lowest fisheries management efficacy. Addressing by-catch in these priority regions is fraught with potentially damaging consequences for the survival of vulnerable human coastal communities. Yet, immediate management and conservation actions are required to prevent species extirpation and extinction through the reduction of small-scale fisheries by-catch. To be successful, these actions will likely require multilateral cooperation and must carefully balance both species and human needs.

中文翻译：

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全球小规模渔业中齿鲸的误捕风险

渔业副渔获物对鲸类（鲸鱼、海豚和鼠海豚）种群构成最大的威胁。尽管如此，对鲸目动物的误捕并没有得到相应水平的研究或管理工作。由于这些渔业的数据极度缺乏，小规模渔业对鲸类副渔获物的贡献通常被忽视。在这里，我们评估了全球范围内对齿鲸（齿鲸）造成的副渔获物风险的可能地理分布。我们将所有 72 种海洋齿鲸物种的物种发生率和渔业易感性估计值与 163 个海洋捕捞国的小型渔业刺网捕捞压力估计值相结合。我们表明，小规模渔业的副渔获物风险可能在低收入和中等收入地区最大，通常在热带和亚热带地区。我们的研究结果突出了一个“棘手问题”，即最高的副渔获物风险主要发生在渔业管理效率最低的地区。在这些优先地区解决副渔获物对脆弱的沿海人类社区的生存充满了潜在的破坏性后果。然而，需要立即采取管理和保护行动，通过减少小规模渔业副渔获物来防止物种灭绝和灭绝。为了取得成功，这些行动可能需要多边合作，并且必须谨慎平衡物种和人类的需求。在这些优先地区解决副渔获物对脆弱的沿海人类社区的生存充满了潜在的破坏性后果。然而，需要立即采取管理和保护行动，通过减少小规模渔业副渔获物来防止物种灭绝和灭绝。为了取得成功，这些行动可能需要多边合作，并且必须谨慎平衡物种和人类的需求。在这些优先地区解决副渔获物对脆弱的沿海人类社区的生存充满了潜在的破坏性后果。然而，需要立即采取管理和保护行动，通过减少小规模渔业副渔获物来防止物种灭绝和灭绝。为了取得成功，这些行动可能需要多边合作，并且必须谨慎平衡物种和人类的需求。