[[wysiwyg_imageupload:165:]] The New England Aquarium collaborates with the Consortium
for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction to research and develop new
and innovative fishing devices and methods that reduce the
threat of bycatch to sea turtles, large whales, sharks and other
marine animals.
Modifications to fishing gear can significantly mitigate bycatch without reducing a fishermen’s target catch. To read about more examples of gear modifications search the Bycatch Reduction Technique Database. The Consortium works with scientists and fishermen to test gear modifications that have the potential to reduce bycatch, while maintaining target catch, minimizing cost, and preserving fishermen’s safety.
The Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction conducts research to understand the nature of interactions between endangered non-target species and fishing operations.
Short-finned Pilot Whales and False Killer Whales
NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service
Bycatch regulations, research, monitoring, and engineering carried out by the National Marine Fisheries Service of the United States.
NOAA's Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
A global assessment of fisheries bycatch and discards
Dr. Scott Kraus, Vice President and Senior Science Advisor/Chief Scientist, Marine Mammal Conservation, Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium, is one of the leading experts on the biology of the North Atlantic right whale, and has extensive experience with his team at the Aquarium in building consensus among industry and scientists in achieving conservation outcomes. These include the relocation of shipping lanes away from sensitive whale habitats, and the development of practical “whale friendly” fishing methods. Dr. Kraus has a PhD.
Dr. Kenneth Baldwin directs the Center for Ocean Engineering at UNH, serves as a member of the University’s Marine Program Executive Committee, and is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. Dr. Baldwin applies his expertise in engineering and marine environments towards the evaluation of bycatch reduction technologies, including acoustic deterrents and “whale-safe” ropes.
Faculty Webpage
Patrice McCarron has been MLA’s Executive Director since 2001 and is the former Executive Director of the Gulf of Maine Lobster Foundation. She has extensive experience in community outreach in the State of Maine and is an expert in fisheries and other ocean management issues through her current and former positions, including Conservation Associate at the New England Aquarium.
Maine Lobstermen's Association
Dr. Andrew Read, Associate Professor and Rachel Carson Chair of Marine Conservation Biology, has conducted field research on marine mammals, sea birds and sea turtles in Canada, Mexico, the United States, South America, and Europe. He holds a number of senior scientific appointments, including President of the Society for Marine Mammology and member of the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission.
Local lobster fishermen and large whale and fisheries scientists met in Woods Hole to discuss large whale entanglements in fishing gear.
Presentations from the workshop can be viewed here.
The worldwide decline in leatherback turtles has been caused, in part, by bycatch in fisheries. Leatherback turtles most often entangled or hooked externally in pelagic longline fisheries (Garrison 2003), but are capable of swimming to the surface to breathe (Witzell and Cramer 1995). Although not all incidental captures lead to mortality, the number of leatherbacks caught each year is very high and post release mortality rates are unknown. Lewison et al (2004) estimated that the global longlining fleets took 50 to 60,000 leatherbacks in 2000.
The main cause of the decline of loggerhead turtles, and the current primary threat to global populations is bycatch in longlines, gillnets, trawls, traps and pots, and dredges. Loggerhead can be hooked in the mouth or another part of their body when trying to consume bait, entangled in gillnets or ropes, or caught in a trawl or dredge. Longlines, gillnets, and trawls are responsible for the majority of sea turtle bycatch events around the world (Wallace et al, 2010). Commercial longlines incidentally caught an estimated 200,000 loggerhead turtles in 2000 (Lewison et al, 2004).
Organizers
Michael Simpkins, Chief, Protected Species Branch, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries Service
Tim Werner, Director, Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction, New England Aquarium
Background
Fisheries bycatch is the principal threat to many marine mammals.
Dr. Jeffry I. Fasick is an Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Tampa in Florida. Dr. Fasick was trained at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, to study the visual pigments of the vertebrate retina, focusing on marine mammals. He did his postdoctoral work at Brandeis University studying the vertebrate short-wavelength sensitive cone visual pigments and the molecular mechanisms associated with wavelength modulation. Faculty Webpage
Gillnet fisheries pose the greatest threat to the vaquita population. Current bycatch estimates are unavailable, but in the early 1990s an estimated 39 to 84 individuals were caught by fishermen from one town (D'Agrosa et al 2000). In 2014, CIRVA reported that probably only 100 individuals remain of this species, and the population was projected to continue declining without emergency regulatory action by the Mexican government (CIRVA, 2014). By 2019, only ~19 individuals are estimated to remain. Recent surveys indicate a population low of ten individuals .
The main threat to the franciscana is bycatch in gillnet fisheries in its native coastal waters of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.
Non-target benthic invertebrates are caught as bycatch in huge volumes, but precise numbers are not available.
Bycatch of pilot whales (short-finned) occurs in the pelagic longline fisheries targeting swordfish, tuna, and shark in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. There are also records of pilot whales (long and short-finned) being taken in gillnet, trawl, and purse seine fisheries. "Whale-safe" hooks are being tested in the longline fishery that aim to reduce pilot whale bycatch by allowing whales to straighten the hook, while being strong enough to retain target catch.
Bycatch of pilot whales (short-finned) occurs in the pelagic longline fisheries targeting swordfish, tuna, and shark in the U.S. Mid-Atlantic. There are also records of pilot whales (long and short-finned) being taken in gillnet, trawl, and purse seine fisheries. "Whale-safe" hooks are being tested in the longline fishery that aim to reduce pilot whale bycatch by allowing whales to straighten the hook, while being strong enough to retain target catch.