The IWC congratulates the fishermen who successfully disentangled a humpback whale off Skye this week. Congratulations also to the Scottish Entanglement Alliance who have worked with the fishing communities, the IWC and others to create a safe and effective entanglement response capability along this extensive coastline.

In 2019, the two fishermen were amongst 20 who invested time and effort attending an IWC workshop in Ullapool which provided training in large whale disentanglement. The skills learnt during this workshop were put to good use this week.

The IWC entanglement response capacity building programme has been running since 2012. Each workshop combines classroom theory with practical tool and boat handling. Workshops are tailored to local conditions, species and legislation, but they all emphasise the importance of collaborative work.  The training brings together fishing communities, coastguards, navies and whale watch operators as well as scientists and conservation organisations, all of whom have particular uses and concerns for the marine environment.  The workshops also emphasise the importance of work to prevent entanglements occurring in the first place.

The successful collaboration in Scotland has led to a project testing a new type of line in the Scottish creel fisheries. Floating ropes have been replaced with sinking groundlines which lie on the seabed and pose no risk of entanglement.  This project is run by the Scottish Entanglement Alliance and funded by the Scottish Government. It was developed in response to a recommendation from the IWC Scientific Committee and is so far reporting successful results.

To-date, the IWC entanglement response programme has provided training to participants from more than 43 countries and is delivering on its aim to build a global network of teams equipped to respond safely and effectively to entangled whales. Training is available via all 88 IWC member countries. For more information please contact secretariat@iwc.int. 

Read more about entanglement response