A special section of the ICES Journal of Marine Science includes 12 new studies focused on marine mammal bycatch and depredation in longline fisheries: http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/72/5?etoc. The papers are an output from workshop organized by the Bycatch Consortium in October 2013, and include an overview paper with extensive documentation of marine mammal-longline interactions worldwide and an assessment of mitigation techniques (http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/72/5/1576.full.pdf+html). Another paper by William McLellan and colleagues is also the result of a Bycatch Consortium-sponsored project looking at hook strength (http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/72/5/1706.full.pdf?etoc).
Featured Bycatch Species
Although it is believed that the harbor porpoise population is not seriously in danger at present, incidental catch of the species in gillnets continues to be the primary threat throughout it