At least 2% of long-term resident bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay died from recreational fishing gear in 2006
By Randall Wells, PhD

Long-time Sarasota Bay resident adult female JOSE with fishing lure caught in her mouth.

The past year has been the worst on record for losses of long-term Sarasota Bay resident bottlenose dolphins from ingestion of recreational fishing gear, including hooks, monofilament line, and lures. Of four carcasses of residents recovered with fishing gear caught in their mouths, throats, and/or stomachs, three were determined to have died from the gear. Another with a large fishing lure caught firmly in her mouth was determined to have likely died primarily from complications from a stingray barb penetration; the relative contribution of the lure to her death could not be determined. This does not take into account carcasses that were not reported and recovered. Previously, we have documented no more than one case of death from recreational fishing gear during any given year. These documented interactions with recreational fishing gear involved four well-known adults, FB 6, FB 75, FB 100, and JOSE, two of whom have been known to us since their births 17 and 22 years ago, and none of whom had any previous history of interacting with anglers.

Riptorn approaching a recreational fisherman during a depredation event near Midnight Pass, February 2006.

These deaths occur at a time when we are seeing increasing “shadowing” of recreational fishing boats and piers in Sarasota Bay and elsewhere by dolphins. This may have come about as a learned behavior reinforced by release of catch or direct feeding by anglers, or perhaps from presentation of preferred prey fish as live bait at a time when the wild populations of these fish, such as pinfish, have collapsed from red tide-related deaths. Population viability modeling by Dr. Robert Lacy of the Brookfield Zoo has demonstrated that the 2006 rate of mortality from fishing gear is unsustainable, and will lead to a serious decline of the Sarasota Bay dolphin community should it continue. As a start toward mitigating this problem, we worked with the National Marine Fisheries Service to develop a set of “best practices” for fishing, and these are being disseminated through press releases, newspaper articles, and other outlets. See Best fishing practices for avoiding interactions with wild dolphins.