STATUS OF THE HARBOR PORPOISE IN GREENLAND

In Greenlandic waters the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) has bee n observed around the southern part of Greenland from Ammassalik on th e east coast to Avanersuaq in northwest Greenland. The main distributi on lies between Sisimiut and Paamiut in central west Greenland. Catch statistics from 1900 to 1993 indicate an annual average take of 668 ha rbour porpoises, ranging from 27 to 1531 animals. A decline in the rep orted catch has been recorded since 1980. Harbour porpoises are mainly caught between April and November, with a peak during June to October . Five fish species, crustaceans and squids have been found in stomach contents of harbour porpoises in Greenlandic waters. There are no ind ications that environmental issues such as organochlorines, heavy meta ls, oil or noise have constituted any threat to harbour porpoises in G reenland. No reports of ice entrapments of harbour porpoises have yet been made in Greenland, as is the case for white whales and narwhals o n the west coast of Greenland. Disease patterns of harbour porpoise ha ve not been studied in Greenland and incidents of mass mortality have never been recorded. Killer whales are sparse along the west Greenland coast and are not believed to constitute a threat to the harbour porp oise population. In Greenland no estimates on stock size are available , and a monitoring programme is needed if the impact of the catch is t o be evaluated.