Solutions

Gears and Best Practices

Avoid Hotspots

Hotspots are areas that have a higher abundance of bycatch taxa where it is more likely to have high bycatch rates if fishing is conducted. It is a best practice to avoid setting fishing gear in these locations.

Fishery Type

Gillnets, Longline, Purse Seine, Trawls

Ocean Region

Eastern Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean, Northern Pacific Ocean, Southern Atlantic Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean

Target Species

American Lobster, Dungeness Crab, Mahi, Swordfish, Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Seabirds, Sharks and Rays

Gears and Best Practices

Backdown Method

The backdown method is conducted after setting the purse seine net but before finishing the haul. This process creates a channel and an opening at the back of the net where non-target species (especially small cetaceans and sea turtles) can escape at the surface.

Fishery Type

Purse Seine

Ocean Region

Indian Ocean, Eastern Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean

Target Species

Salmon, Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Sharks and Rays

Gears and Best Practices

Decreased Soak Times

Soak time is the amount of time that deployed fishing gear stays in the water. The longer the gear is set in the water, the higher the bycatch rate will be.

Fishery Type

Gillnets, Longline, Purse Seine, Trawls

Ocean Region

Eastern Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean, Northern Pacific Ocean, Southern Atlantic Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean

Target Species

Atlantic Cod, Groundfish, Mahi, Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Seabirds, Sharks and Rays

Gears and Best Practices

Jelly FAD

Jelly FADs are non-entangling biodegradable fish aggregating devices that have proven to be just as effective as traditional FADs at aggregating targeted fish species. Due to their structure design and materials used, they do not pose an entanglement risk to sea turtles, dolphins/porpoises, and sharks/rays, and if lost will biodegrade much faster than traditional FADs.

Fishery Type

Purse Seine

Ocean Region

Eastern Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean

Target Species

Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Seabirds, Sharks and Rays

Gears and Best Practices

Modified Purse Seine

Modified purse seines were developed to address seabird bycatch in the Chilean anchovy and sardine purse seine fisheries. Specific modifications include moving the locations of the buoys and decreaseing the amount of excess netting. The implementation of the modified purse seine resulted in a 98% decrease in seabird bycatch rates for vessels with an increase in target catch.

Fishery Type

Purse Seine

Ocean Region

Eastern Pacific Ocean, Northern Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean, Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean

Target Species

Anchovy, Sardines, Salmon

Bycatch Species

Seabirds

Gears and Best Practices

Non-Dolphin/Whale Shark Sets

Dolphins/porpoises and whale sharks are often found with target fish in the open ocean, and were often used as an indication of where to set purse seine nets. This led to large bycatch rates for both in historical purse seine fisheries leading to very high mortality rates.

Fishery Type

Purse Seine

Ocean Region

Indian Ocean, Eastern Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean

Target Species

Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sharks and Rays

Gears and Best Practices

Non-Entangling Biodegradable FAD

Fish aggregation devices (FADs) are structures that attract target fish, normally tuna, which the are used to increase fishing efficiency. Nets and ropes that attach to the main structure and hang in the water often entangle non-target species such as sea turtles, seabirds, and sharks that are also attracted to the FAD.

Fishery Type

Purse Seine

Ocean Region

Indian Ocean, Eastern Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean

Target Species

Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Sharks and Rays

Gears and Best Practices

Smart Buoys

Smart buoys provide constant location information so that gear can be tracked remotely, which helps fishers locate gear if it has come loose or moved in a storm. Importantly, it also can alert fishers when buoy lines are being dragged, for example provide continuous real-time location data of entangled whales which would greatly increase disentanglement success.

Fishery Type

Gillnets, Longline, Pots/Traps, Purse Seine

Ocean Region

Indian Ocean, Eastern Pacific Ocean, Northern Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean, Southern Atlantic Ocean

Target Species

Atlantic Cod, Hake, American Lobster, Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Seabirds, Sharks and Rays