Report of the Second Workshop on The Biology and Conservation of ...

live capture <strong>of</strong> several Indo-Pacific bottlenosedolphins was issued by <strong>the</strong> Council <strong>of</strong> Agricultureto <strong>the</strong> National Museum <strong>of</strong> Marine Biology andAquarium in 2001 (this permit was not exerciseddue to later concerns by <strong>the</strong> permittee about <strong>the</strong>uncertain conservation status <strong>of</strong> this species inTaiwanese waters).O<strong>the</strong>r than <strong>the</strong> Wildlife Conservation Law, <strong>the</strong>re arepresently no formal management arrangementsor plans for cetaceans in Taiwanese waters.Folk attitudes and interactions with marinemammalsDue to many cetacean watch tours, publiceducational programs conducted by nongovernmentalorganizations, popular articles,books and frequent media reports, publicawareness <strong>of</strong> cetaceans has increased greatly. Thisawareness has led to <strong>the</strong> reporting <strong>of</strong> manystranded cetaceans both dead and alive.The Taiwan Cetacean Society has grown in sizesince 1995 (now with more than 100 members) andseveral additional non-governmental organizationsinvolved in cetacean conservation have beenestablished. A national stranding network (TaiwanCetacean Stranding Network) was established inNovember 1996 with support from <strong>the</strong> Council<strong>of</strong> Agriculture, and a Cetacean Committee within<strong>the</strong> Society <strong>of</strong> Wildlife & Nature was establishedin January 1997. The Kuroshio Ocean EducationFoundation and Taiwan Cetacean Society werefounded in 1998. The FormosaCetus Research andConservation Group was established in 2001 toprovide an independent perspective on cetaceanconservation in Taiwan based on credible scientificresearch. Also in 2001, <strong>the</strong> Marine EducationFoundation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> National Museum <strong>of</strong> MarineBiology and Aquarium was founded.Although public attitudes towards cetaceans havechanged greatly, <strong>the</strong>re are still people who hunt,sell and consume cetacean meat. The main marketsare in Yunlin and Chiayi counties, with smallerlocal markets at fishing ports where cetaceansare still landed (e.g., Nanfang Ao). Cetaceanmeat is believed to have medicinal properties forpostpartum women.Description <strong>of</strong> existing research programsSince 1995, many works have ei<strong>the</strong>r been formallypublished in journals, presented in symposia, orappeared as <strong>the</strong>ses or governmental reports. Thesubjects include species checklists and results<strong>of</strong> surveys (Chou et al. 1995b, Yang et al. 1999,Yeh 2001, Y.-A. Chen 2001, Chou 2002, Wang etal. 1995, 2001a, 2001b), taxonomy <strong>of</strong> bottlenosedolphins (Wang 1999; Wang et al. 1999, 2000a,2000b), life history <strong>of</strong> pantropical spotted dolphins(Chu 1996), acoustics (Wu 1995,Yu 2002), physicalhabitat analysis (Chen 2001, Yeh 2001), phylogeny(Lin 1997), comparative morphology (Lin et al.1998, J.-P. Wang et al. 1998, 1999; Chen et al. 1999,Kuo et al. 2002), diet analysis (Chou et al. 1995a),chemical and heavy metal accumulations (Chen1998, Shih 2001, Chen 2002, Chen et al. 2002),whale watching impacts (Yo 2000, Kou 2002),economy and management <strong>of</strong> whale watching(Tseng 1999, Chu 1999, Chu 2002), fisheryinteractions (Chi 2001), parasitology (T.-M. Wu1996, M.-T. Wu 1997), veterinary medicine (Yang2000; T.-D. Chiu 2001; Chou 2000, 2001) and fisherydeterrence gear (Lai 2002, Chen 2001). <strong>Workshop</strong>participants noted that many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>se researchresults have appeared in <strong>the</strong>ses or internal reportsand stressed <strong>the</strong> importance <strong>of</strong> ensuring that <strong>the</strong>yare published in <strong>the</strong> peer-reviewed literature.Response to strandings was initiated in 1994by Chou’s group and taken over by <strong>the</strong> TaiwanCetacean Society in 2000. Currently, only <strong>the</strong> TCSand <strong>the</strong> National Museum <strong>of</strong> Marine Biology andAquarium are authorized to deal with strandings,although o<strong>the</strong>r agencies and groups assist with <strong>the</strong>work. Biological samples from stranded animals<strong>Second</strong> <strong>Workshop</strong> on <strong>the</strong> Biology and Conservation <strong>of</strong> Small Cetaceans and Dugongs <strong>of</strong> SE Asia 35