A new review of marine mammal bycatch in gillnet fisheries from 1990 to 2011 has been published in the open access journal, Endangered Species Research, in a theme section on Techniques for reducing bycatch of marine mammals in gillnets. Efforts to look at marine mammal bycatch on a global scale have been few. The last major attempt […]
May 2025
Reducing seabird bycatch in the South African joint venture tuna fishery using bird-scaring lines, branch line weighting and nighttime setting of hooks | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Several seabird bycatch mitigation techniques were tested aboard distant water tuna fisheries in the South African EEZ. Two types of bird scaring designs, light lines with short streams vs. hybrid lines with a mix of streamer lengths were compared with unweighted branch lines. In addition, unweighted to weighted branch lines were tested and night vs. […]
Performance assessment of an underwater chute to mitigate seabird bycatch in the Hawaii pelagic longline tuna fishery | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Underwater setting chutes reduce bycatch of seabirds–Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis) and Black-footed (P. nigripes) albatrosses–in the Hawaiian longline tuna fishery. The underwater setting techniques increased bait retention.
Effectiveness of four industry-developed bycatch reduction devices in Louisiana's inshore waters | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Three of four bycatch reduction devices placed on shrimp (Penaeus aztecus and Penaeus setiferus) trawls in the Gulf of Mexico reduced bycatch of fish species but also reduced catch of shrimp. The fourth bycatch reduction device increased catch of shrimp and fish when compared with control nets.
Publications | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Evaluation of Blue Water Concept’s gear Report to the New England Aquarium under NOAA Grant #NA06NMF4520120 tot eh Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH USA
2006 Supplement to the large whale gear research summary | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
This supplement to a 2002 compendium of NOAA large whale entanglement prevention research has newer studies, including investigation of SAM gillnet gear, gillnet weak links and anchoring systems, evaluation of gillnet weak links, and a pilot study of options for reducing vertical line entanglements.
Performance of a bycatch reduction device in the shrimp fishery of the Gulf of California, Mexico | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
A square mesh/extended funnel bycatch reduction device (BRD) tested in the bottom trawl shrimp fishery in the Gulf of California decreased bycatch by 40% when compared to control trawls. On average, the BRD excluded 37% of finfish species, including the endangered Totoaba macdonaldi, but it also reduced shrimp catch by approximately 7%.
Reducing incidental mortality of seabirds with an underwater longline setting funnel | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
An underwater setting funnel, used in conjunction with a bird-scaring line, reduced bycatch of albatross and petrel seabirds in the demersal longline fishery for Patagonian toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) off of the sub-Antarctic South African Prince Edward Islands. Although fish rates were not compared between sets with and without the funnel, it is predicted fish catch […]
Flashing NetLights reduce bycatch in small-scale fisheries of the Eastern Mediterranean | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
11 pp. (Article #: 106919) Illuminated nets were tested to evaluate their effect on catch and bycatch in set nets, principally green and loggerhead sea turtles, in northern Cyprus. Reductions in the catch of sea turtle and non-target sharks and rays were recorded with no effect on target catch. Data were collected from 130 field […]
Guidelines for Evaluating Artificial Light to Mitigate Unwanted Fisheries Bycatch | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
This paper suggests guidelines for evaluating artificial light in bycatch reduction devices (BRL) using a standardized, collaborative, multidisciplinary approach. The purpose is to improve data consistence to support future meta-analyses and inter-study comparisons, and to highlight areas where further research is needed most urgently, as BRLs are a promising and rapidly moving area of bycatch […]
Both environmental conditions and fisher behaviour influence the occurrence of shark and odontocete depredation on the longline catch in New Caledonia | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
The authors performed modeling on 10 years of logbook data to analyze environmental and operational factors that influence shark and odontocete depredation in the New Caledonian longline tuna fishery. Results suggest that there are “hotspots” of odontocete depredation, and that it is driven by environmental factors such as sea surface temperature and bathymetry, while shark […]