In 2015, New England Aquarium researchers and collaborators published a paper in Conservation Biology titled Effects of fishing rope strength on the severity of large whale entanglements correlating rope strength with increased risk and severity of large whale entanglements (Knowlton et al. 2016). As a result of that study, the authors recommended that rope strengths […]
December 2025
Deep-sea benthic habitats and the impacts of trawling on them in the offshore Greenland halibut fishery, Davis Strait, west Greenland. | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Demersal trawl gear used to catch Greenland halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) in west Greenland. A towed vide sled recorded trawling impacts on seafloor fauna. Trawling effort was significantly linked with community composition, with a negative association between trawling effort and abundance of some taxa, including some vulnerable marine ecosystem (VME) indicator species, including a regionally rare […]
Experimental determinations of factors affecting the sink rates of baited hooks to minimize seabird mortality in pelagic longline fisheries | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Experiments were conducted aboard pelagic longline vessels off the east coast of Australia to determine the effects of different bait species (blue mackerel, yellow tail mackerel and squid), live and dead bait, weight of leaded swivels (60 g, 100 g and 160 g) and leader length (2 m, 3 m and 4 m distances between […]
Franciscana bycatch is not reduced by acoustically reflective or physically stiffened gillnets | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Experimental trials were carried out in Argentina comparing franciscana bycatch rates in standard gillnets with gillnets with increased acoustic reglectivity by infusion with barium sulphate (BaSO4) and increased flexural stiffness of the nylon twine. There was no significant difference in franciscana bycatch rates or target catch rates among the three net types.
Reduction of seabird bycatch in salmon drift gillnet fisheries: 1995 sockeye/pink salmon fishery final report | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Opaque mesh netting placed strategically on gillnets decreased bycatch of rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata) and common mure (Uria aalge) seabirds but also decreased catch of target salmon species in the Puget Sound, USA.
Bycatch News | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Bottom trawls and bycatch UK proposes to extend trawling ban Support for reducing finning and bycatch of sharks Why we do what we do Who better than the incomparable David Attenborough to explain why our Conssortium exists? Please see : https://www.express.co.uk/celebrity-news/2050515/breaking-david-attenborough-heartbreaking-update-end-of-life Entanglements of North Atlantic right whales in northwestern crab and lobster pot fisheries New […]
Deterring albatrosses from contacting baits during swordfish longline sets | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Dyed bait, streamer lines, and weighted bait used in Hawaii longlines each resulted in reduced contact between seabirds (Black-footed (Phobastria nigripes) and Laysan (Phoebastria immutabilis) albatrosses) and bait.
What is Bycatch? | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
How Serious is Bycatch? Some would argue that bycatch is an acceptable consequence of supplying the world with wild-caught seafood. However, too often the scale of mortality is so high that it threatens the very survival of species and their environments. Every year, at least 7.3 million tons of marine life are caught incidentally. In […]
A trap with a twist: evaluating a bycatch reduction device to prevent rockfish capture in crustacean traps | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Modified trap openings were developed to reduce juvenile rockfish bycatch in British Columbia spot prawn traps. Smaller trap openings had no impact on rockfish or other non-target species bycatch. A novel bent tunnel opening resulted in no rockfish bycatch and the exclusion of other fish species. However, all trap modifications resulted in reductions in prawn […]
North Atlantic Right Whale | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
The small population of North Atlantic right whales is in danger of extinction. These whales were hunted nearly to extinction by commercial whalers by the end of the 1700s, but today are at risk from entanglement in fishing gear and boat strikes. At least 82% of the North Atlantic right whale population has been entangled […]
Low-profile gillnet testing in the deep water region of Pamlico Sound, NC. | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Low profile gillnets with a panel height of six feet and no tie downs or additional floats had significantly fewer interactions with sea turtles and caught significantly less bycatch than standard gillnets. Catches of the target species (flounder) were also reduced in the low profile gillnets.
False killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens) echolocation and acoustic disruption: implications for longline bycatch and depredation | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
An acoustic device designed to deter false killer whales from approaching longlines by reducing the whales’ echolocation performance capabilities was tested on a trained false killer whale. The device, Longline Saver, produced a series of complex, broadband signals (1-250 kHz) at high intensity levels (up to 182 dB). The whale was asked to detect a […]
Effects of square-mesh panels in codends and of haulback delay on bycatch reduction in the oceanic prawn-trawl fishery of New South Wales, Australia | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Codends modified with rectangular mesh panels (one oriented length-wise in the cod end and one oriented width-wise, each measuring 7 x 11 bars) reduced the weight of discarded bycatch by 46% and 38% respectively but did not significantly reduce the catch of targeted prawns. A haulback delay of 10-15 seconds allowed juvenile red spot to escape […]
Analysis and mitigation of cetacean bycatch in UK fisheries | Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction
Acoustic pingers placed in the rear of a pair trawl net in the United Kingdom bass pair trawl fishery did not reduce bycatch of common dolphins (Delphinus delphis). Multi-monofilament net, placed in the North Sea and West of Scotland gillnet fisheries, had no significant impact on harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) bycatch when compared to traditional […]