Project Fishing Harbours Tags

Bycaught dolphins tagging program

Interactions between marine animals and fishing operations are frequent, with negative consequences for fisheries and animals. Usually, these interactions end up with the death of dolphins.

Since the year 2000, the Portuguese Wildlife Society (SPVS) has registered cetacean strandings along north and central coast of Portugal. The analysis of these animals denoted that a high number of them have died due to fisheries interactions. Since the implementation of the SPVS stranding network, a total of 744 cetaceans of 13 species were registered.

If you find a tag contact 00351919618705

In order to understand the representativeness of cetacean strandings in the Portuguese coast, as well to understand where the stranded cetaceans come from, the SPVS relies on the cooperation of several fishermen and their professional organizations. Therefore, when fishermen find dead dolphins in their fishing nets, they tag them and register the incident, returning them back to sea.

These tags are coloured yellow, with a serial number on one side and a contact on the other.

To whoever finds a tagged dead dolphin or the tag itself please register its location (as precise as possible) and contact: (00351)919618705.

If phone contact is not possible please fill in the following form. Personal data is not mandatory and if provided it won't be revealed to third party entities and maintained undisclosed. Please specify precisely the stranding location using GPS coordinates or Google Earth. If you don't have access to this information please give some accurate indications regarding the nearest access (eg. beach/location). This information is necessary for the research teams in order to have access to the animal and collect all biological samples needed for further studying.