JON LIEN

Jon Lien is an Honourary Research Professor in the Biopsychology Programme and the Ocean Sciences Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Currently he serves on a panel advising Canada's Minister of Fisheries and Oceans on integrated management of oceans, marine protected areas and coastal zone management; he is a past member of the Fisheries Resources Conservation Council in Canada. In the past year he has done policy studies on the captive maintenance of marine mammals and on the impact of whale watching for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. For over 20 years he was responsible for the Entrapment Assistance Programme which helped both the animals and the fishermen along 17,000 km of coastline with bycatch problems. Currently his research involves physiological assessments of stress in cetaceans and evaluation of the impact of whale watching on both animals and people. When not working in the lab or on the water he can be found working on his family's certified organic farm.

ABSTRACT

In Newfoundland and Labrador, the Entrapment Assistance Programme was organized in the 1970s in response to the problem fishermen were having with large whales and sharks that collided with, and became entrapped in, their nets. The problem was serious for the animals. The programme provided educational programmes, technical assistance and services to release entrapped animals safely. At its peak the programme dealt with 150 entrapped humpbacks a year; in all, 11 species of cetaceans were released from fishing gear. The services provided were enthusiastically supported by fishermen who saved money and catches, and by environmentalists concerned with the animals. In 1992 a wide-spread fishery moratorium dramatically reduced fishing effort in the province and by-catch problems similarly declined. The moratorium has continued in most areas allowing some populations, such as harbour porpoise, to rebound. In 1999 to assure continuation of the assistance program, it was installed within the Environmental Response Unit of the Canadian Coast Guard. Institutionalizing the programme within government altered it, reducing educational and scientific components. Plans are to reestablish the entire programme in an ENGO.

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