Article
Environmental Studies
Christopher J. Brown, Amelia Desbiens, Max D. Campbell, Edward T. Game, Eric Gilman, Richard J. Hamilton, Craig Heberer, David Itano, Kydd Pollock
Summary: Accurate fisheries catch data is crucial for sustainable management of tuna fisheries. Electronic monitoring (EM) can help fill the gap in observer data, providing more diverse species data and comparable catch rates to human observers. Further expansion of EM could lead to improved management of both target and bycatch species.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Qinqin Lin, Yong Chen, Jiangfeng Zhu
Summary: In this study, a semi-quantitative PSA approach was used to assess the vulnerability of 24 species caught by the Chinese tuna longline fishery in the EPO, with 5 species identified as highly vulnerable and the rest as moderately vulnerable. The PSA results showed good concurrence with all longline fisheries in the EPO, but differed significantly from EASI, highlighting the need for more reliable data for quantitative assessments.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Francoise D. Lima, Hugo Parra, Rita B. Alves, Marco A. R. Santos, Karen A. Bjorndal, Alan B. Bolten, Frederic Vandeperre
Summary: This study aimed to verify the effectiveness of using circle hooks in the Azorean longline fishing fleet. The results showed that circle hooks can reduce bycatch of loggerhead sea turtles and injuries caused by deep hooking, but the effects on blue shark and swordfish varied.
Article
Fisheries
Andre S. Afonso, Bruno Mourato, Humberto Hazin, Fabio H. V. Hazin
Summary: Research found that using light lures in epipelagic longline fisheries may increase catch rates of target species but also result in catching more non-target species. Among different colors, green attractors showed the highest catch rates of target species but also caught the most non-target species, indicating the need for further understanding of the effects of light lures and lunar illumination on fish behavior.
FISHERIES RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Fisheries
Melissa R. Cronin, Donald A. Croll, Martin A. Hall, Nerea Lezama-Ochoa, Jon Lopez, Hilario Murua, Jefferson Murua, Victor Restrepo, Stefany Rojas-Perea, Joshua D. Stewart, Jennifer L. Waldo, Gala Moreno
Summary: This study examines the knowledge of Mobulid bycatch and mitigation ideas in Eastern Pacific Ocean purse seine fisheries. The primary obstacles for mitigating Mobulid bycatch are the inability to sight them before capture, the lack of specific onboard equipment, and the difficulty of releasing large individuals. The study suggests that simple operational modifications and interventions after capture could address these challenges.
ICES JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jiaqi Wang, Chunxia Gao, Feng Wu, Xiaodi Gao, Jessica Chen, Xiaojie Dai, Siquan Tian, Yong Chen
Summary: In the Pacific Ocean, the bycatch and discard patterns of Chinese tuna longline fleets were analyzed using observer data. Other bony fishes and sharks were the most common bycatch species, and the bigeye tuna fleet had higher bycatch and discard rates compared to the albacore fleet. Bycatch of marine turtles and mammals mainly occurred in the Tropical Pacific, while seabird bycatch was more common in the Temperate Pacific.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Mauricio Castrejon, Omar Defeo
Summary: Longlining in the Galapagos has been a contentious issue, with a ban imposed in 2000. However, there are misconceptions about longline fishing among the residents, highlighting the importance of public awareness and education. It is crucial to find a solution that balances the livelihoods of fishers with the conservation of endangered species.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Matthew J. Smukall, Tristan L. Guttridge, Felicie Dhellemmes, Andrew C. Seitz, Samuel H. Gruber
Summary: The study examined the impact of leader type and gear strength on the species composition, catch rates, and size distribution of sharks. Results showed differences in catches between leader types, particularly for tiger sharks. The importance of understanding and considering the selectivity of different gears in catch surveys was emphasized.
FISHERIES RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Caitlin K. Frankish, Cleo Cunningham, Andrea Manica, Thomas A. Clay, Stephanie Prince, Richard A. Phillips
Summary: Juvenile grey-headed albatrosses from South Georgia dispersed to the northeast, overlapping with a bycatch hotspot for grey-headed albatrosses reported by the Japanese pelagic longline fleet in the southeast Atlantic Ocean. The majority of birds caught in this area are likely juveniles from South Georgia, indicating a key factor in the sustained population decline. This study emphasizes the urgent need to understand the 'lost years' of marine megafauna for targeted conservation efforts.
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
(2021)
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Gohar A. Petrossian, Stephen F. Pires, Monique Sosnowski, Prabha Venu, George Olah
Summary: This research explores the impact of potential illegal longline fishing vessels on albatrosses. The results show that the activities of illegal longline fishing are highly concentrated in areas with illegally-caught fish species, leading to a significantly higher risk for albatrosses. These findings highlight the serious threat that illegal longline fishing poses to the survival of albatrosses and call for targeted interventions by bird conservation organizations in collaboration with fisheries management organizations.
Article
Oceanography
Fabien Forget, Jeff Muir, Melanie Hutchinson, David Itano, Igor Sancristobal, Bruno Leroy, John Filmalter, Udane Martinez, Kim Holland, Victor Restrepo, Laurent Dagorn
Summary: Estimating bycatch is crucial for monitoring fisheries' ecological impacts. The study found that shark counts were often underestimated during commercial fishing trips, especially by single onboard observers or Electronic Monitoring Systems. Specific studies using complementary counts by two onboard observers are recommended to assess the accuracy of different EMS configurations.
OCEAN & COASTAL MANAGEMENT
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Jaime C. Pinero, Heriberto Godoy-Hernandez, Ajay Giri, Xiaojian Wen
Summary: This study evaluates the attractiveness of diluted Concord grape juice (DGJ) and investigates the effects of aging and sodium chloride addition on the attraction of D. suzukii. The results show that fresh DGJ is as attractive or more attractive than commercial lures, and aged DGJ is more attractive to female D. suzukii. The addition of sodium chloride increases the attractiveness of DGJ and reduces captures of non-target insects.
FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Simon D. Goldsworthy, Brad Page, Derek J. Hamer, Andrew D. Lowther, Peter D. Shaughnessy, Mark A. Hindell, Paul Burch, Daniel P. Costa, Shannon L. Fowler, Kristian Peters, Rebecca R. McIntosh, Frederic Bailleul, Alice I. Mackay, Roger Kirkwood, Dirk Holman, Simon Bryars
Summary: The bycatch of the endangered Australian sea lion in gillnet fisheries off South Australia has been a major threat to its populations. A comprehensive assessment combined with management measures, including spatial closures, observer programs, and incentives for alternate fishing methods, resulted in a significant reduction in sea lion bycatch mortality and a transition to longline fishing. The successful implementation of these measures showcases how effective management can mitigate bycatch mortality of marine mammals.
FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
M. A. Collins, P. R. Hollyman, J. Clark, M. Soeffker, O. Yates, R. A. Phillips
Summary: Seabird mortality in fisheries is a global issue that has been effectively reduced to negligible levels in the Patagonian toothfish fishery around South Georgia through the implementation of a range of mitigation measures and high compliance levels. Restricting the fishery to the austral winter has been a significant factor in reducing mortality levels.
Article
Fisheries
Melissa R. Cronin, Julia E. Amaral, Alexis M. Jackson, Jennifer Jacquet, Katherine L. Seto, Donald A. Croll
Summary: The incidental capture of sharks and rays by marine fisheries as bycatch is a global threat. This study investigates the effectiveness of current policies in mitigating bycatch, the data needed to assess the impact of bycatch, and the research required for new policies. The findings show that most policies focus on post-capture mortality and research, rather than avoiding or minimizing bycatch. Therefore, a precautionary approach is recommended, including reforms in voting processes to adopt binding requirements for catch limits, bycatch avoidance, handling and release modifications, and protection of important areas.
FISH AND FISHERIES
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Brandon Kuczenski, Camila Vargas Poulsen, Eric L. Gilman, Michael Musyl, Roland Geyer, Jono Wilson
Summary: Derelict fishing gear is a significant source of marine plastic pollution, impacting ecosystems and marine life negatively. Current studies are limited and estimates of the amount of lost fishing gear entering the ocean globally remain uncertain, highlighting the need for improved monitoring and management to reduce derelict gear.
FISH AND FISHERIES
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Brandon Kuczenski, Camila Vargas Poulsen, Eric L. Gilman, Michael Musyl, Bri Winkler, Roland Geyer
Summary: This study introduces a novel analytical framework for describing the use of fishing gear and evaluating the environmental impacts arising from fishing activities.
JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Peter J. Mumby, Milani Chaloupka, Yves-Marie Bozec, Robert S. Steneck, Ignasi Montero-Serra
Summary: Complex ecological interactions are difficult to detect in delivering conservation benefits, leading to debates over efficacy. By using a Bayesian Region of Practical Equivalence (ROPE) approach, many conservation practice tests can be interpreted correctly as undecided rather than negative. The challenge of interpreting conservation benefits may be addressed by considering a wider diversity of evidence.
CONSERVATION LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eric Gilman, Michael Musyl, Michael Wild, Hua Rong, Milani Chaloupka
Summary: Fisheries bycatch poses a threat to seabird populations and fishing efficiency. Experimental fishing showed that weighted hooks significantly reduced the capture rates of seabirds compared to conventional gear. However, the economic cost of using these hooks was deemed unacceptable. Additionally, the weighted hooks sank faster than conventional hooks.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Luciana Medeiros, Milani Chaloupka, Alan B. Bolten, Eduardo M. von Muhlen, Alexsandro Santos, Ana C. J. Marcondes, Joao C. A. Thome, Maria Angela Marcovaldi, Karen A. Bjorndal
Summary: Trindade Island in Brazil is a remote volcanic island with a genetically distinct and the largest green turtle nesting aggregation in the southwest Atlantic. The study finds that the population of green turtles on Trindade Island remains stable, which contrasts with the increasing trends observed in other areas of the Atlantic.
Review
Fisheries
Eric Gilman, Milani Chaloupka
Summary: Policy decisions should consider the risk of error and bias, strength of evidence, and efficacy of alternative management interventions. Applying a sequential evidence hierarchy can help evaluate fisheries bycatch management strategies. Bycatch is a threat to food and livelihood security and to threatened species. Transparent and evidence-informed regional conservation policy requires synthesizing all available information. Meta-analytic syntheses are optimal for guiding regional bycatch management, but qualitative syntheses may be used when robust evidence is lacking. Precautionary approaches should be used when there is weak or no evidence. Strictly applying a hierarchical approach on evidence risks ignoring potentially important findings. Authorities should consider all accumulated evidence and implications of different approaches when making bycatch management policies.
REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Liming Song, Tianlai Li, Tianjiao Zhang, Hengshou Sui, Bing Li, Min Zhang
Summary: Logbook data from 13 Chinese longliners operating in the high seas of the Atlantic Ocean from 2016 to 2019 were collected to evaluate the effects of machine learning models and spatial resolutions on the prediction accuracy of bigeye tuna fishing grounds. Five machine learning models and four spatial resolutions were compared, with the results showing that the STK model within 1 degree x 1 degree grids had the best prediction performance. The selected vertical environmental factors based on correlation analysis were found to be reliable predictors in the models.
FISHERIES OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Eric Gilman, Tom Evans, Iain Pollard, Milani Chaloupka
Summary: This study assessed the effects of fishing time and depth on seabird and target species catch rates in a Pacific Ocean longline fishery. The results showed that night-time deep setting significantly reduced albatross and seabird catch rates, indicating its potential for reducing seabird bycatch risk.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Marine
Yuqing Liu, Huiyong Chu, Liming Song, Zhonglin Zhang, Xing Wei, Ming Chen, Jieran Shen
Summary: This paper proposes a lightweight object detection network Tuna-YOLO for mobile devices, which achieves accurate detection of tuna through improved network structure and knowledge distillation. Experimental results show that Tuna-YOLO outperforms other versions of YOLO network in terms of parameter quantity, detection accuracy, and calculation speed. This research is of great significance for subsequent deployment of algorithms on mobile devices and real-time catch statistics.
JOURNAL OF MARINE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Fisheries
Huihui Shen, Liming Song
Summary: This study examines how the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission has incorporated the ecosystem approach into its management and decision-making system. The study finds that the commission lacks incentives to adopt the ecosystem approach as a whole, due to management priorities and inadequate scientific information. The study suggests developing a clear vision and roadmap for the implementation of the ecosystem approach, as well as involving multiple stakeholders in addressing labor concerns.
Article
Environmental Studies
Eric Gilman, Milani Chaloupka, Hollie Booth, Martin Hall, Hilario Murua, Jono Wilson
Summary: Fisheries bycatch poses a significant threat to marine species conservation. This study evaluates different strategies for managing bycatch and suggests a sequential mitigation hierarchy approach that prioritizes measures to avoid and minimize bycatch, followed by interventions to reduce impacts. As a last resort, compensatory offsets can be used for residual impacts that cannot be avoided. However, offset activities may have socioeconomic implications and some bycatch impacts may be irreversible. The study highlights the importance of robust metrics to determine the equivalency between residual impacts and offset activities. Overall, bycatch management guided by a sequential mitigation hierarchy can help achieve ecological and socioeconomic objectives.
Article
Fisheries
Eric Gilman, Milani Chaloupka, Lyall Bellquist, Heather Bowlby, Nathan Taylor
Summary: Fisheries can have negative impacts on threatened bycatch species and vulnerable marine ecosystems. Thresholds, particularly individual vessel quotas, provide flexibility to avoid exceeding limits and encourage innovation of effective solutions. Some intergovernmental organizations lack bycatch thresholds, with a focus on sharks, indicating a potential reliance on national authorities for bycatch management.
REVIEWS IN FISH BIOLOGY AND FISHERIES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Eric Gilman, Kyle Antonelis, Joan Drinkwin, Saeid Gorgin, Petri Suuronen, Saly N. Thomas, Jono Wilson
Summary: The rapid expansion of global marine capture fisheries in recent decades and the increased use of synthetic and durable fishing gear have led to a rise in the adverse ecological and socioeconomic effects of abandoned, lost, and discarded fishing gear (ALDFG). These effects include ghost fishing, ingestion of marine wildlife, transfer of toxins and microplastics into marine food webs, changes in the distribution and behavior of species that aggregate beneath floating ALDFG, habitat degradation, damage to maritime sectors, and loss of socio-economic value in coastal areas. The articles in this Marine Policy special issue contribute to a better understanding and evidence-based management of these effects by providing insights into the causes, impacts, and strategies for monitoring and managing ALDFG.
