The Distribution of Whales in the Northern Arabian Sea along the Coast of Pakistan Obtained through Crew-Based Observer Programme- Results of the 2018 fishing season

Sightings of whales made by WWF-Pakistan’s Crew Based Observers deputed on
tuna gillnet vessels operating along Pakistan’s coast were reported for the 2018
fishing season. A total of 13 sightings of Arabian Sea humpback whales, 2 sightings
of blue whales, 1 sightings of Bryde’s whales, 4 sightings of sperm whales and 15
sightings of baleen whales (that could not be identified to species level due to lack of
adequate photographic or video evidence) were made during 2018. The number of
whales recorded for the year 2018 is much less than 2017 when a total of 95
sightings of whale were recorded from the area. This decrease in sighting is
attributed to early closure of fishing season in late April 2018 because of extremely
low prices of tuna in the market. Usually a voluntary two month close season is
observed between June and July, however, the new fishing season was started in
September 2018. The close season, therefore, remained effective for about four
months (May to August). In addition, a major part of tuna fishing fleet operated in the
further offshore waters (known to have thin population of whales) to avoid checking
by Government agencies for implementation on various legislation during
November- December 2018.