Setting the net lower: A potential low-cost mitigation method to reduce cetacean bycatch in drift gillnet fisheries

1. Bycatch is the most significant threat to marine megafauna (sea turtles, marine mammals, elasmobranchs, seabirds) worldwide, and the leading cause of the decline of several cetacean species. The bycatch issue in the Indian Ocean is poorly understood, but high bycatch levels in gillnet fisheries have been documented for the past two decades, in both small-scale and semi-industrial fisheries. Unfortunately, methods to reduce bycatch are often unavailable, financially non-viable or socially unacceptable to fishermen.
2. Using a network of trained boat captains in the tuna drift gillnet fishery in the Arabian Sea, targeted catch and bycatch data were collected from 2013 to 2017 off the coast of Pakistan (northern Indian Ocean). Two fishing methods using multifilament gillnets were used: surface deployment and subsurface deployment (i.e. headline of net set below 2 m depth).
3. Predicted catch rates for targeted species did not differ significantly between the two fishing practices, although a drop in tuna (6.2%) and tuna-like (10.9%) species captures was recorded in subsurface sets. The probability of cetacean bycatch, however, was 78.5% lower in subsurface than in surface sets.
4. Cetacean bycatch in tuna drift gillnet fisheries has the potential to be significantly reduced at a relatively low cost for fishers. However, further research with an appropriate sampling design and a large sample size is required to confirm the efficacy of the proposed mitigation method. The acceptability and adoption of subsurface setting by fishers also needs to be further investigated. Despite some limitations, this preliminary study also highlights the importance of crew-based observer data as an alternative source of data when observers cannot be deployed on fishing vessels.

     

Use of remote sensing tools to predict focal areas for sea turtle conservation in the south-western Atlantic

1. Fisheries bycatch of non-target species in the commercial fleet is a major source of anthropogenic injury and mortality for sea turtles and marine megafauna.
2. The Río de la Plata maritime front (RLPMF) and its adjacent international waters – comprising part of the Argentine and Uruguayan exclusive economic zones, is a highly important fishing ground in the south-western Atlantic Ocean as well as feeding and development grounds for sea turtles.
3. This paper analyses the distribution of the bottom and pelagic trawling fishery within the RLPMF using information from Vessel Satellite Monitoring System. With this information, areas of highest trawling intensity were defined and further evaluated their overlap with sea turtle habitat-use areas from available sea turtle satellite tracking information.
4. Results besides identifying high-susceptibility areas for sea turtle bycatch by the commercial trawler fleet along the RLPMF, provide predictive tools to identify vulnerable areas to interaction of sea turtles and the commercial fishing fleet.
5. Implementation of bycatch mitigation measures, such as reduced fishing effort areas by the Argentine and Uruguayan fisheries management agencies has the potential to benefit the fisheries as well as marine megafauna. Furthermore, there is a need for additional research on the impact that this fleet can have on sea turtles present in the area.

     

Sea turtles bycatch in the Adriatic Sea set net fisheries and possible hot‐spot identification

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Incidental capture and mortality of sea turtles in the industrial double‐rig‐bottom trawl fishery in south‐eastern Brazil

1. Incidental capture by fisheries is one of the principal threats to sea turtles. This study analysed spatial and temporal patterns of sea turtle bycatch, and estimated the direct initial mortality rate of these animals, in the industrial double‐rig‐bottom trawl fishery in south‐eastern Brazil. This is also the first attempt to relate bycatch/at‐sea mortality in bottom trawling to stranded turtles found along the adjacent coast.
2. The fishery was monitored from October 2015 to April 2018 through data collected voluntarily by the captains of eight industrial double‐rig trawlers. Two hundred and one sea turtles were captured during 9362 tows (43,657.52 trawling hours), resulting in a catch per unit effort (CPUE) of 0.0025 ± 0.0032 turtles h^?1 with a standard net of 30.5 m headrope, with no significant difference between the estimated CPUEs for licensed shrimp and demersal fish trawlers.
3. Caretta caretta (52.24%) and Lepidochelys olivacea (38.81%) were the most frequently captured species. According to Generalized Linear Models, C. caretta bycatch was significantly higher during winter, at lower latitudes (?24° to ?23°) and higher longitudes (?42° to ?40°), while the L. olivacea bycatch was significantly higher at higher latitudes (?23° to ?21°). The direct initial mortality rate of sea turtles in the shrimp trawlers was 7.65 ± 3.85%. However, none of the dead individuals subsequently released with plastic tags (n = 10) were found stranded on the coast. Mortality was not significantly related to the depth or duration of the trawling.
4. The results of this study suggest the need for improvements to the current management of the bottom trawl fishery in Brazil, moving from a species‐based to a spatial and seasonal‐based approach. There is also a need to develop turtle excluder devices adapted to local fishing conditions.

     

Artisanal fishing,dolphins, and interactive pinger: A study from a passive acoustic perspective

1. Dolphins interact with many types of fishing gear, causing damage to fishing activities and in some cases facing harm and becoming entangled as bycatch.
2. In this study, the behaviour of bottlenose dolphins during their interaction with set nets, equipped with and without interactive pingers, was investigated. Acoustic monitoring of the nets was conducted for a total of 56 hauls and 814.9 hr of recordings, from the 16 October to 13 November 2015, along the coast of Lampedusa island (Sicilian Channel, Italy, Mediterranean Sea).
3. The level of interaction between dolphins and the nets was evaluated considering the number of dolphin clicks grouped over time (single acoustic incursion on each net), the duration of every acoustic incursion, and the number of dolphin clicks per incursion. Moreover, the catch rate was measured as the number of fish per hour for each net.
4. Based on the recording time of dolphin clicks, the spatio-temporal development of the interaction with the nets located in different bays of the island was assessed.
5. The duration of the interaction between dolphins and nets significantly increased over the study period, with a concomitant reduction in catch rate. The interactive pinger showed efficacy in protecting the nets from dolphin depredation during the first period of 36 hauls and 11 fishing days (higher catch rates and lower incursion durations), whereas no differences were found in any interaction parameters between pinger and control nets in the second period (20 hauls and six fishing days).
6. Interactive pingers may be an effective, short-term (2–3 weeks) tool in deterring depredation by bottlenose dolphins in small-scale artisanal fisheries. Other mitigation approaches, such as gear modification, lessons learned through outreach, and passive acoustic monitoring of the nets, could improve the management of the interactions between fisheries and bottlenose dolphins.

     

Characterization of seabird bycatch in eastern Canadian waters, 1998–2011, assessed from onboard fisheries observer data

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Current bycatch levels in Auckland Islands trawl fisheries unlikely to be driving New Zealand sea lion (Phocarctos hookeri)population decline

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Operational interactions between South American sea lions and gillnet fishing in southern Brazil

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Overview of loggerhead turtles coastal nets interactions in the Mediterranean Sea

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A closer look at the bycatch of medium-sized and large sharks in the northern Catalan coast (north-western Mediterranean Sea): Evidence of an ongoing decline?

1. Historically, the Mediterranean Sea supported a rich shark fauna. Presently, however, populations of most shark species have significantly declined, largely due to intense fishing pressure.
2. Interviews with crew members of bottom trawlers, drifting longliners and bottom longliners operating off the Costa Brava (Catalonia, NE Spain) were conducted between October 2016 and July 2017 in order to gather information on the current bycatch rate of several shark species.
3. Interviews covered 41.2% of the fleet and respondents were asked for the bycatch of selected shark species—Alopias vulpinus, Cetorhinus maximus, Galeorhinus galeus, Hexanchus griseus, Isurus oxyrinchus, Mustelus spp., Prionace glauca, and Squalus acanthias—in two distinct time periods.
4. Bottom trawlers captured the highest diversity of species (eight) followed by bottom longliners (seven), and drifting longliners (three). Most respondents (89.7%) declared having captured at least one shark from 2006 to 2016 but only 56.4% declared having captured at least one shark from 2016 to 2017.
5. From 2016 to 2017, the whole fleet captured 89 specimens of H. griseus (95% confidence interval (CI) = 145, 34), 14 of G. galeus (95% CI = 30, 0), 3 of A. vulpinus (95% CI = 8, 0), 3 of I. oxyrinchus (95% CI = 8, 0), 3 of C. maximus (95% CI = 6, 0), and no Mustelus spp. The total bycatch of P. glauca and S. acanthias was uncertain due to extremely loose confidence intervals.
6. A significant decline was perceived by fishermen in the bycatch of C. maximus and S. acanthias, whereas the bycatch of H. griseus was considered to have remained stable.
7. This study suggests a dramatic reduction in the abundance of most of the medium-sized and large sharks of the Costa Brava and the likely disappearance of Mustelus spp. from the area. Only H. griseus, S. acanthias, and P. glauca are still being bycaught frequently.

     

Improved line weighting reduces seabird bycatch without affecting fish catch in the Brazilian pelagic longline fishery

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Incidental capture of leatherback sea turtles in fixed fishing gear off Atlantic Canada

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A comparison of methods to spatially represent pelagic longline fishing effort in catch and bycatch studies

Bycatch in fisheries has been recognized as a threat to many endangered populations of sea turtles, sea birds and marine mammals. Interactions between pelagic longline fisheries and critically endangered populations of leatherback sea turtles (Dermochelys coriacea) have led to temporary closures of the Hawaiian pelagic longline swordfish fishery and severe bycatch quotas. The negative impact of these events on both the populations of certain endangered species and the economic livelihood of the fishermen has resulted in a strong push from all sides to better understand bycatch events. Typically, analyses of longline catch and bycatch have examined fishing effort summarized over large areas (≥1°). Although aggregation of effort to this level may be necessary to account for uncertainty, confidentiality concerns, or to make comparisons across regions, it specifically limits the researcher's ability to characterize the local oceanographic factors that may drive individual bycatch events. Higher resolution analyses must be undertaken to identify such features. However, for these higher resolution analyses, the methods currently used to spatially represent pelagic longline fishing effort may significantly affect researcher's results. Here, we look at different methods to represent this fishing effort (i.e., points, centroids, polylines and polygons) at various resolutions (2 km to 5°) to better understand which method and spatial resolution are most appropriate. Our results validate the use of point features to represent fishing effort in previous low resolution studies of the Hawaiian pelagic longline fishery by showing that the set point method is suitable for studies with resolutions lower than 15 km. However, at higher resolutions (≤15 km) and in areas with more sparsely distributed fishing, aggregated effort values differed significantly between spatial representation methods. We demonstrate that the use of polygons to describe pelagic longline fishing effort is more representative and necessary for such high resolution analyses.     

Catch and trade bans for seahorses can be negated by non-selective fisheries

1. All seahorse species (genus Hippocampus) are listed under Schedule I of India's Wild Life Protection Act, making all capture and trade of seahorses illegal. In the more than 15 years since the ban, little work has been done to assess its effects on seahorse conservation.
2. Between 2015 and 2017, fisheries and trade surveys were conducted along the south-east coast of India, in the state of Tamil Nadu, historically known to be a hub for seahorse catches and trade.
3. Seahorses were primarily landed as bycatch, although in greater quantities by traditional drag nets than as trawl bycatch. Total annual catches were estimated between 4.98 million and 13.64 million seahorses, 87% of which were caught by active non-selective gear.
4. Generalized additive models revealed that seahorse catch per unit effort had non-linear relations with depth and latitude, and were higher in biogenic habitats, with active, bottom-used, and non-selective gears (e.g. trawls).
5. The illegal nature of the trade in seahorses hampered an understanding of trade routes and trade volumes. Catch estimates indicated that 11.21–30.31 tonnes of seahorses probably entered trade, yet interviews with traders only documented trade of about 1.6 tonnes.
6. Fishers reported a decreasing availability of seahorses. Since most seahorses come from bycatch in persistent fisheries that are not directly affected by the ban on seahorse capture, this decline is likely to represent a population decline.
7. A fishery and trade ban for incidentally caught species, particularly in a poorly regulated fishery, appears to add little conservation value. There needs to be a shift in the management approach, moving from a ban towards spatial and temporal restrictions, and toward enforcing existing fishery regulations.

     

Dolphin population specialized in foraging with artisanal fishers requires zero-bycatch management to persist

1. The small population paradigm assumes that populations with low numbers of individuals intrinsically have a high probability of extinction. The small population of Lahille’s bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus gephyreus that specializes in foraging with artisanal fishers in Laguna, southern Brazil, faces human pressures including bycatch in fishing gear. The viability of this population was modelled over 30 and 100 years under different levels of bycatch, including the current scenario of two bycatches every year, two scenarios with higher incidence of bycatches and three management scenarios. The sensitivity of predicted growth rates to fixed-proportion and observed-variation changes in life history parameters was explored.
2. The current scenario predicted a declining population (r = −0.014; λ = 0.986) with a high probability of extinction in the long term (PE = 0.71). A small increase in bycatches would result in a marked increase in the probability of extinction. Management scenarios seem promising, but only the zero-bycatch management scenario would make the difference between a declining and an increasing population.
3. As expected for slow-growing species, population growth rate was most sensitive to proportional changes in adult female and juvenile survival. However, considering observed variation in vital rates, population dynamics were most influenced by variation in reproductive rates.
4. To determine the highest priority for management action, another simulation was made of how additional threat scenarios of recognized human activities (i.e. bycatch influencing adult survival and increased underwater noise or pollution influencing calf survival) would affect population dynamics. Population growth rate was very sensitive to changes in adult bycatch (especially females), as expected, and only subtly sensitive to a reduction in calf survival.
5. The current level of bycatch is unsustainable. Bycatch needs to be eliminated to maximize the probability of long-term persistence of this dolphin population. However, this population’s persistence could be threatened by natural variation in reproductive rates.

     

Fisheries and conservation assessment of sharks in Pacific Panama

1. In Panama, shark fisheries were initially developed in the 1980s and progressively increased in production in the 1990s mainly due to the high demand for shark fins and meat from the international Asian market. Since then, and despite the exploitation rate (average 3,514 t year^–1) and endangered status of some species, shark fisheries have seldom been studied, and official statistics are general or incomplete and not suitable for the development of appropriate conservation and management strategies.
2. To understand the dynamics of shark fisheries in Panama, field surveys were conducted between 2007 and 2009 at several landing ports of small‐scale and industrial fisheries, at fish processing plants and on‐board fishing vessels in Pacific Panama, where most of the fishing vessels of the country operate.
3. In general, it was found that the artisanal and industrial fisheries of the Pacific coast of Panama regularly exploit at least 18 species of sharks, which are also being exploited by neighbouring countries in the eastern Pacific, suggesting the importance of coordinated conservation initiatives across the multiple jurisdictions. A large number of the individuals caught were immature, implying a certain level of impact on recruitment rates. This pattern was particularly evident in species such as Sphyrna lewini, for which immature individuals represented at least 99% and 63% of the total catch by small‐scale and industrial fisheries, respectively. Catch per unit of effort analyses showed that Carcharhinus and Sphyrna species were the most exploited (representing ~80% of the catches) by industrial fisheries in Panama between 2006 and 2009, suggesting that fishery management should provide special attention to these groups.
4. It is expected that the information presented here provides a baseline to develop new regulations, including the implementation of annual quotas and fishing seasons and the protection of nursery areas, for the long‐term sustainability and conservation of sharks in Panama.

     

Effects of a hook ring on catch and bycatch in a Mediterranean swordfish longline fishery: small addition with potentially large consequences

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High mortality of adult female Magellanic penguins by gillnet fisheries in southern Brazil

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Assessing the effectiveness of conservation management decisions: likely effects of new protection measures for Hector's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)

• 1. Fisheries bycatch affects many species of marine mammals, seabirds, turtles and other marine animals.
• 2. New Zealand's endemic Hector's dolphins overlap with gillnet and trawl fisheries throughout their geographic range. The species is listed as Endangered by the IUCN. In addition, the North Island subspecies has been listed as Critically Endangered.
• 3. Estimates of catch rates in commercial gillnets from an observer programme (there are no quantitative estimates of bycatch by amateur gillnetters or in trawl fisheries) were used in a simple population viability analysis to predict the impact of this fishery under three scenarios: Option (A) status‐quo management, (B) new regulations announced by the Minister of Fisheries in 2008 and (C) total protection.
• 4. Uncertainty in estimates of population size and growth rate, number of dolphins caught and other model inputs are explicitly included in the analysis. Sensitivity analyses are carried out to examine the effect of variation in catch rate and the extent to which fishing effort is removed from protected areas but displaced to unprotected areas.
• 5. These methods are applicable to many other situations in which animals are removed from populations, whether deliberately (e.g. fishing) or not (e.g. bycatch).
• 6. The current Hector's dolphin population is clearly depleted, at an estimated 27% of the 1970 population. Population projections to 2050 under Options A and B predict that the total population is likely to continue declining. In the case of Option B this is driven mainly by continuing bycatch due to the much weaker protection measures on the South Island west coast.
• 7. Without fishing mortality (Option C) all populations are projected to increase, with the total population approximately doubling by 2050 and reaching half of its 1970 population size in just under 40 years. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.