Mexican SSF bycatch and bycatch reduction technology testing

Bycatch in net fisheries is recognized as a major source of mortality for many marine species, including sea turtles, sharks and other elasmobranchs, seabirds, and marine mammals. Few mitigation solutions, however, have been identified. We assessed the effectiveness of different sensory based bycatch reduction technologies such as illuminating fishing nets withlight emitting diodes (LEDs) of different wavelengths and using low frequency acoustic alert device to reduce the incidental capture of sea turtles, sharks, seabirds, marine mammals, and juvenile fish. In addition, we examined the effects on target fish catch rates. Experiments were conducted in the demersal, setnet fishery of Bahia de los Angeles and compared pairs of control and experimental nets. With these study showing that various BRTs reduce sea turtle and elasmobranch bycatch (such as sharks and guitarfish), potential new technologies can be used to reduce multi-taxa bycatch . This finding has broad implications for bycatch mitigation in net fisheries given the global ubiquity of net fisheries and the current paucity of bycatch mitigation solutions.