reports and articles 2004 2003 and Earlier
Bycatch Communication Network Newsletter (August-September 2008)
This newsletter, supported by WWF US, contains articles on prawn fisheries bycatch in Australia, cetacean strandings and bycatch in the Southwest UK, and a Malaysian turtle rescue workshop.
NOAA Fisheries Study Indicates Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean Dolphin Populations May Be Improving (6/25/08)
Bycatch of dolphins in the purse-seine fishery for tropical tuna in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean has been a marine conservation issue for decades. Due to various conservation and management actions, the number of dolphins killed in the international fishery has been greatly reduced. New population estimates in this study are the first indications that a dolphin recovery may be underway.
2007 Shark Finning Report to Congress (2/13/08)
Section 6 of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000 requires the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to provide Congress with annual reports describing efforts to carry out the Act. This report summarizes, among other things, all of the recent management, enforcement, international efforts, and research activities related to sharks that are in support of the Act.
NOAA Releases the State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States (1/02/07)
This report includes region-by-region descriptions of fishing impacts to deep corals, which fall under the definition of bycatch in the Magnuson-Stevens Act.
Status Reviews of Listed Sea Turtles Available Online (1/02/07)
NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have recently completed 5-year reviews of the status of sea turtles listed under the Endangered Species Act. Reports are now available online for hawksbill, Kemp’s ridley, leatherback, loggerhead and olive ridley, and green turtles.
Final Laysan and Black-Footed Albatross Action Plan, Version 1.0 (1/02/07)
This plan is intended to provide a framework for partnership-based conservation and management actions to reduce threats and prevent or stem population declines.
Florida Gear Manufacturer Touts the Benefits of Circle Hooks (12/17/07)
An article published in the September 2007 issue of Fishing News International argues for the benefits of circle hooks in retaining target catch and reducing sea turtle bycatch.
NOAA Fisheries 2006 Business Report Highlights Bycatch Reduction Efforts (5/14/07)
Shark Depredation and Unwanted Bycatch in Pelagic Longline Fisheries: Industry Practices and Attitudes and Shark Avoidance Strategies 
(5/30/07)
This report, published by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, presents the result of a study of 12 pelagic longline fisheries in 8 countries.
Southeast Region Bycatch Workshop Proceedings (6/5/07)
These proceedings report on a May 2006 workshop hosted by NOAA Fisheries' Southeast Regional Office. The goal of the workshop was to provide a better understanding of bycatch issues in the Southeast Region and identify potential solutions to reduce bycatch by means of management measures, gear technology, data/monitoring, and research.
New Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document on Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology
This report, entitled "The Analytic Component to the Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology Omnibus Amendment: Sampling Design, and Estimation of Precision and Accuracy," presents a comprehensive summarization of 2004 data collected by the Northeast Fisheries Observer Program, as well as estimation of precision of bycatch for fish, turtles, marine mammals, and sea birds by using three methods and two discard ratios, an evaluation of these different methods, and the estimation of sea days required to achieve the desired level of precision.
New Northeast Fisheries Science Center Reference Document on Sea Turtle Strandings
This report, entitled "Analysis of Virginia Fisheries Effort as a Component in the Development of a Fisheries Sampling Plan to Investigate the Causes of Sea Turtle Strandings," analyzes commercial effort during May-July in 2001, 2002, and 2003 in other Virginia fisheries, as a step towards allocating fishery observer coverage as part of a long-term bycatch monitoring plan.
New Report on the Efficacy and Commercial Viability of Regulations Designed to Reduce Sea Turtle Interactions with the Hawaii-Based Longline Swordfish Fishery
The report, prepared by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council in cooperation with NOAA Fisheries and other organizations, indicates that measures have been extremely effective at reducing interactions with endangered sea turtles in the Hawaii-based longline swordfish fishery.
Proceedings from the Third International Fishers Forum Available
The conference took place during July 2005 in Yokohama, Japan, and topics of discussion included production, consumption, monitoring, and bycatch.
Discards in the World's Marine Fisheries: An Update (FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 470)
This study provides an update of the quantity of discards in the world's marine fisheries based on a fishery-by-fishery approach. The weighted discard rate is estimated at 8 percent (proportion of the catch discarded). Based on this discard rate, in the 1992-2001 period, yearly average discards are estimated to be 7.3 million tonnes.
2005 Report to Congress Pursuant to the Shark Finning Prohibition Act of 2000
Section 3 of the Shark Finning Prohibition Act amended the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to prohibit any person under U.S. jurisdiction from engaging in the finning of sharks, and possessing shark fins aboard a fishing vessel and landing shark fins without the corresponding carcass. This report describes efforts to carry out the Act and provides an update to last year’s report, including complete information for 2004 activities plus additional information from a portion of the current year.
Study Discusses Reducing Sea Turtle Mortality in Longline Fisheries
A recent study in the journal Fish and Fisheries examines ways to reduce sea turtle bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries.
Researchers Estimate Marine Mammal Bycatch in the United States and World
Marine mammal bycatch has declined significantly in U.S. waters over the last decade, but global bycatch of marine mammals remains in the hundreds of thousands, according to a recent paper in the journal Conservation Biology.
New Article on Seabird Bycatch
The journal Marine Ornithology has published an article by Lewison et al. entitled "Thinking big - taking a large-scale approach to seabird bycatch." To download this article, please click here.
NEFSC Bycatch Estimation Methodology: Allocation, Precision, and Accuracy
This report describes the standardized methodology used to estimate bycatch rates of finfish by commercial fisheries in the Northeast.
A 2004 issue of Marine Fisheries Review includes bycatch articles covering the NOAA Fisheries National Bycatch Strategy; Atlantic blue marlin and Pacific halibut bycatch; and protected species in the California drift gillnet fishery for swordfish and thresher shark.
Using Digital Video Monitoring Systems in Fisheries: Application for Monitoring
Compliance of Seabird Avoidance Devices and Seabird Mortality in Pacific Halibut
Longline Fisheries
This 111-page report concludes that an electronic monitoring system (EMS) monitoring
program would produce accurate data and enable compliance evaluations for seabird
avoidance devices. In addition, an EMS program would be able to detect a high
proporation of incidentally caught seabirds.
Stock
Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report Available for Pacific Highly Migratory
Species
The document describes the status of the U.S. West Coast Fisheries for Highly
Migratory Species through 2004 and includes information on bycatch issues in
those fisheries.
NOAA Sea Turtle Publications for the Atlantic Ocean Basin
This site includes links to a large number of documents related to sea turtles and sea turtle bycatch, including peer-reviewed publications, unpublished reports, NOAA Technical Memoranda, contract reports to NOAA, and theses and dissertations supported by NOAA.
Report:
Working with the Ecuadorian Fishing Community to Reduce the Mortality
of Sea Turtles in Longlines: The First Year, March 2004 to March 2005
This circle hook study took place over the past year in Ecuador's tuna and
mahi-mahi fisheries and involved 115 Ecuadorian fishing vessels.
Marine Mammal Stock Assessment Reports (SARs)
This page contains links to marine mammal SARs, which include information on the geographic range, population estimate, population trends, and productivity rates of various marine mammal stocks.
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