Bycatch News
From the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): Research conducted by the University of the West Indies, Guyana's Fisheries Department, and local fishers has led to a proposal to modify the Chinese-type seines used to catch seabob shrimp (Xiphopenaeus kroyeri) in order to reduce the capture of juvenile fish and shrimp.
Read more here: Small gear change could bring sustainable benefits for fishers in Guyana
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)'s Ocean Stewardship Fund for Science and Research is requesting proposals for strategic and applied research to help MSC-certified fisheries reduce their impacts on endangered, threatened, and protected species. The RFP deadline is October 18, 2026.
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From Dawn:
Pakistan has announced the country's first national action plan for the conservation of sharks. The 10-year plan will seek to restore declining shark populations, curb illegal finning and bycatch, protect critical marine habitats and promote sustainable fisheries in three phases, with an estimated $3.8 million to $5m in funding during its first five years.
The U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration has announced the availability of $4.6 million for collaborative bycatch reduction projects. Proposed projects should include meaningful industry engagement in their identification, design, and/or implementation. The application period closes January 22, 2027.
More information can be found here: Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program | NOAA Fisheries
From the BBC: A Defra-funded study by the University of Exeter, Cornwall Wildlife Trust, and Cornwall Marine Pathology Team examined 175 stranded common dolphins (Delphinus delphis), and concluded that the most common cause of stranding (39%) was entanglement in fishing gear. Oher principal causes of stranding included infectious disease (25%), live stranding of healthy animals (10%), non-bycatch trauma (8%) and starvation (7%).
Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9d8w8p9qvgo.
From Seafood Source: A juvenile humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) entangled in commercial fishing gear off the West Coast of the United States was successfully freed by a National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-led team, however, injuries from the entanglement left the whale's jaw permanently stuck open, making it unable to feed and unlikely to survive. The four-day disentanglement effort recovered more than 3,000 feet of line, five sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). pots, and several Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) traps. The incident has renewed calls for stronger whale-protection measures, including wider use of on-demand fishing gear designed to reduce entanglement risks.
AQUASERV will provide funded access to one or more research facilities in Europe to projects focused on advancing sustainable fisheries. More information is available: https://www.aquaserv-ri.eu/fisheries-call. The deadline for submission is December 4, 2026.
From University College Cork: A new study has identified persistent hotspots where harbor porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) are most likely to interact with Irish gillnet fisheries, finding that the Celtic Sea and continental shelf off Ireland's west coast consistently had the highest risk of gillnet-porpoise interaction across seasons and years.
From UV News: Researchers from the University of Valencia's AI4OCEANS program have developed hybrid artificial intelligence frameworks to help reduce bycatch of vulnerable marine species, including sea turtles, sharks, and marine mammals. The methods automatically identify bycatch from images taken onboard fishing vessels.