Solutions

Gears and Best Practices

Net Lights

Net lights are LED lights attached directly to fishing nets, most commonly in gillnet fisheries, that serve to illuminate the top of the net making it more noticeable to bycatch.

Fishery Type

Gillnets

Ocean Region

Indian Ocean, Eastern Pacific Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean

Target Species

Atlantic Cod, Groundfish, Hake, Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles

Gears and Best Practices

Seabirds are visual hunters and most active during daylight hours. By shifting to setting fishing gear when it is dark, seabird interaction with baited hooks and nets is greatly reduced thereby decreasing bycatch rates.

Fishery Type

Longline, Gillnets, Trawls

Ocean Region

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

Target Species

Mahi, Swordfish, Tuna

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

Non-Steel Leaders

Leaders are a segment of the branch line that the baited hook is directly attached to. For fisheries that do not retain sharks, it is recommended to use a leader material that can be cut, allowing sharks to break off in the water, or be cut from the main line by the crew when hauling.

Fishery Type

Longline

Ocean Region

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

Target Species

Mahi, Swordfish, Tuna

Bycatch Species

Sharks and Rays

Gears and Best Practices

Ropeless (On-Demand) Pot/Trap Systems

Ropeless (On-Demand) pot/trap systems are designed to be deployed without surface buoy lines in the water column and therefore nearly entirely reduce the risk of entanglement for ETP species. Most of these systems utilize an acoustic release device that can be activated from the boat which will either release a buoy line or inflate a float bag attached to the pots/traps in the water. The pots/traps can then be retrieved by fishers.

Fishery Type

Pots/Traps

Ocean Region

Northern Atlantic Ocean, Northern Pacific Ocean

Target Species

Dungeness Crab, Snow Crab, Groundfish, American Lobster

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals

Gears and Best Practices

Sharkguard

Longline fisheries set out a long main line with hundreds to thousands of baited hooks attached on branch lines. Sharks and rays are attracted to baited hooks in addition to target species resulting in tens of millions caught as bycatch in longline fisheries each year.

Fishery Type

Longline

Ocean Region

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

Target Species

Mahi, Swordfish, Tuna

Bycatch Species

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

Gears and Best Practices

Sub-Surface Sets

Surface set gillnets can catch sea turtles and small cetaceans that spend most of their time at the surface. By increasing the depth of the float line (the top rope on the net) a few meters, sea turtles and small cetaceans at the surface can pass over without becoming entangled, decreasing the bycatch rate.

Fishery Type

Gillnets

Ocean Region

Indian Ocean, Eastern Pacific Ocean, Northern Atlantic Ocean

Target Species

Atlantic Cod, Groundfish, Hake, Tuna

Bycatch Species

Marine Mammals, Sea Turtles, Seabirds

Fishery Improvement Project

Tunago and Thai Union Pacific Ocean Tuna Longline FIP

This tuna longline fishery is addressing bycatch issues through increased data-collection with electronic monitoring systems and a commitment to numerous bycatch mitigation best practices.

Fishery Type

Longline

Ocean Region

Eastern Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean

Target Species

Tuna

Bycatch Species

Sea Turtles, Sharks and Rays, Seabirds