As part of our work towards building a bycatch mitigation toolkit, CIBBRiNA has published a new report which reviews past, present, and potential future bycatch mitigation strategies for Endangered, Threatened, and Protected (ETP) species.
The report considers strategies as they relate to different fishing gears, regions, species, and socio-economic contexts in Europe. As per CIBBRiNA’s case study fisheries, the report covers the following categories of gear: gillnets, deep-water longlines, surface longlines, pelagic trawls, and bottom trawls. Importantly, the measures reviewed cover not only technical ones such as modifications to gear, but also socio-economic ones such as financial instruments.
Result highlights
- There are no universal solutions. Different species and contexts require tailored approaches. Combining measures is most promising for protecting a wide range of ETP species in any one fishery.
- Some measures have broader applicability:
- Closing specific fishing grounds at specific times is effective for ETP species that tend to stay in one area. But for species that move between different areas, dynamic closures using real-time monitoring and enforcement are needed.
- Bycatch quotas can allow fishers to decide themselves how to reduce bycatch in their specific situation to avoid closures. This flexibility could improve compliance with bycatch management measures, although it needs to be supported by strong monitoring programmes using observers and/or Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM).
- Financial compensation for adopting mitigation measures that may reduce target catch can also support compliance, but require clear rules and may strain national budgets.
- Fisher involvement is an essential element in successful initiatives to develop, test, and implement mitigation measures.
Read the full report here.