This project includes training in social science techniques for characterizing the fishing industry within three target countries: Argentina, Chile, and Ecuador. The project was designed to support NMFS/OIA efforts to reduce marine mammal bycatch in international fisheries, especially those that export fish and fish products to the United States.
Most bycatch reduction techniques so far implemented around the world have been in commercial fisheries within developed countries, which have relatively strong regulatory and enforcement capacity, and that generally can absorb increased expenses or reduced revenue from regulated modifications to fishing methods.
Entanglement in commercial fishing ropes threatens the recovery of the North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis), a species largely restricted to 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.