Addressing and mitigating marine megafauna bycatch

Bycatch, or the incidental capture of marine mammals, seabirds, sea turtles and elasmobranchs is the most significant threat to these species at the global level.

The magnitude of bycatch is overlooked in many regions around the world, particularly in developing countries, and actions to mitigate bycatch are still rare in most fisheries.

Indian Ocean (East African small-scale fisheries)
Pakistan (drift gillnet fisheries)

The magnitude of bycatch is overlooked in many regions, particularly in developing countries.

We investigate the magnitude of the incidental capture of marine megafauna and how to mitigate bycatch, primarily in artisanal fisheries

We investigate the magnitude of the incidental capture of marine megafauna and how to mitigate bycatch, primarily in small-scale fisheries. We also study how some industrial fisheries overlap and affect some endangered species, particularly cetaceans. We mostly work in the Indian Ocean (East African small-scale fisheries), Pakistan (drift gillnet fisheries) and globally to assess marine mammal, sea turtle and elasmobranch in fisheries.

Over the last years and in collaboration with our numerous collaborators, we have worked to identify potential mitigation measures to reduce bycatch. Our projects to assess and mitigate bycatch have generated encouraging results, and with our collaborators, we have identified several low-cost methods to reduce bycatch, particularly of cetaceans, in gillnets which could have a major impact on the conservation of these species in the long-term.