Summary
Information on seal bycatch in Irish fisheries were collected through an onboard observer program. The gillnet fishery had no observed bycatch of seals. Grey seals (Halichoerus grypus) and harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) were caught as bycatch in large mesh tangle nets targeting crawfish (Palinurus elephas). The west and southwest coasts of Ireland have a high risk for seal bycatch in crawfish fisheries due to the presence of grey seal colonies and similar habitat preferences. There was a positive correlation between seal bycatch and crawfish and monkfish catches, depth of gear deployment and large mesh sizes. Improved net visibility, smaller mesh sizes and the use of pots instead of tangle nets may help reduce these bycatch interactions.