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The Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch has been featured in the August 22, 2011 New York Times Science article, "Fishing Gear is Altered to Ease Collateral Costs to Marine Life".  

The Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction was recently featured in an August 27, 2011 editorial in the Boston Globe, "Saving Millions of Fish".

Fishermen and conservationists both want to avoid bycatch. The Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction, based at the New England Aquarium, brings together fishermen and scientists to work together to find ways to reduce bycatch without negatively impacting fisheries.

Sharks are the main bycatch group for pelagic longline fisheries. Shark interactions with fisheries can have negative financial and safety consequences for fisheries and are destructive to shark populations. A product that could deter sharks from fisheries that has no negative effect on the target fish would benefit both fisheries and shark populations.

Bycatch in gillnets is a serious threat to the franciscana dolphin (Pontopoia blainvillei), Brazil's most endangered dolphin. Gillnets are virtually invisible barriers for these dolphins, who frequently get trapped and drown in them. 

Scott Landry, Director of the Whale Rescue Team at the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, and a partner on many of the Consortium's research projects, was recently in the Pacific Standard's article The Whale Wrangler.

Watch Large Whale Entanglement Simulator Video

Illustration by Scott Landry

While most of the research and development of bycatch reduction methods is focused in developed nations and commercial fisheries, some of the most severe coastal gillnet bycatch challenges are likely to be found in artisanal gillnet fisheries in developing nations. Efforts to address challenges in these coastal regions are stymied by a lack of information on the extent of the bycatch problem and the status of the species affected, as well as by social, cultural and economic factors that can cause artisanal fishing communities to resist implementing mitigation measures.

Bycatch in gillnets poses a serious threat to many marine mammals around the world. A new Theme Section in Endangered Species Research evaluates techniques to reduce marine mammal bycatch, including:

Acoustic deterrents
Non-Acoustic gear deterrents
Time-area closures
Gear switching

A new review of marine mammal bycatch in gillnet fisheries from 1990 to 2011 has been published in the open access journal, Endangered Species Research, in a theme section on Techniques for reducing bycatch of marine mammals in gillnets.

The workshop covered topics such as time-area closures, as well as several methods under evaluation in different parts of the world for reducing the bycatch and subsequent mortality of odontocetes in longline gear, including acoustic deterrents, weak hooks, and net sleeves. Many questions remain in understanding the efficacy of these mitigation methods, and how practical they may be to the fishing industry.

The 20th Biennial Conference on Marine Mammals was held at Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand from December 9 to 13, 2013. Over 1000 scientists came together from around the world for 357 talks and about 400 posters about marine mammals.    

A June 2014 article in The Guardian highlights the Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction's research model, which uses partnerships between marine scientists and fishermen to find ways to reduce bycatch.

A recent paper by William A. McLellan of UNC-Wilmington and colleagues examined the behavior of different longline hooks in the mouths of one small whale and two dolphin species. These are among many species of cetaceans that prey on the hooked bait and catch of longline fishermen. The consequence can be fatal to the marine mammal and costly to fishermen.

A special section of the ICES Journal of Marine Science includes 12 new studies focused on marine mammal bycatch and depredation in longline fisheries:  http://icesjms.oxfordjournals.org/content/72/5?etoc.

Hundreds of thousands of birds are injured or killed every year in fisheries around the world. This new website puts a wealth of information helpful in reducing bycatch right at the fingertips of those who need it most—fishermen, conservationists, and those promoting fishery sustainability. The web-based map tool—Seabird Maps & Information for Fisheries—provides information on seabirds in fisheries and can help to evaluate and reduce seabird bycatch.

Reducing Excess Rope Strength in Fishing Gear

Could Cut Whale Deaths from Entanglements by 72 percent

BOSTON (December 2015) - Along the U.S. East Coast and the Canadian Maritimes, reports of a whale entangled in ropes used in commercial fishing are a near weekly event. When a whale gets entangled in these ropes, the event can lead to either immediate death by drowning, or delayed death from impaired feeding or infection as a result of deep injuries. It can be a long, painful process of dying for these entangled whales.

See the coverage in the Boston Globe here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/06/07/new-aquarium-centers-promi…

On June 16, 2016, Massachusetts Secretary for the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, Matthew Beaton, announced a grant to NEAq researchers for developing and testing ropes of reduced breaking strength that are practical for fishing but can also help reduce whale entanglements. Here is the full story as featured in the Boston Globe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/06/16/development-whale-friendly-fishing-ropes-gets-boost-from-state/AsybA0iaMQtgdE3JnFc0aK/story.html

CBC Radio Interview: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/research-whale-deaths-1.3785463

NPR "Here and Now" Story: http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2016/10/07/fishermen-weaker-ropes-whales