Understanding interactions between non-target species and fishing operations
Understanding interactions between non-target species and fishing operations
Entanglement in commercial fishing ropes threatens the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), a species largely restricted waters off of eastern North America. In recent years, serious entanglements have been increasing, and mortality from conflicts with fishing operations exceeds US legal mandates, with 83% of the population showing incidence of scarring as a consequence of these encounters.
In the absence of direct observations of entanglement events involving baleen whales, the goal of this project is to better understand the dynamics of rope entanglements using computer models.
Duke University scientists have been working with longline fishermen within the Cape Hatteras Special Research Area (CHSRA) to study pilot whale (Globicephala spp.) interactions with the longline fishery.
The Maine Lobstermen’s Community Association and the Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction worked with lobstermen in the Gulf of Maine to document the range of fixed-gear lobster fishing methods for the first time. The publication provides new data and illustrations on how lobster trap gear is configured and deployed by season and location.
Bottom-set gillnet fisheries that target flounder in Pamlico Sound, North Carolina are responsible for incidentally taking juvenile sea turtles during the fall months. This is expecially problematic given that it is the State’s most valuable finfish fishery. The Division of Marine Fisheries has employed a variety of management tools to address this problem including: closed areas, mandatory permits, reporting and observer coverage, gear restrictions, net attendance, goals for reduced strandings, and incidental take limits.