Protecting Ocean Wildlife
Reducing bycatch
SFP is working to reduce the bycatch of endangered, threatened, and protected species in marine fisheries.
Bycatch, the unintended capture of non-target species, is the biggest single threat to the sustainability of marine fisheries. Through our Protecting Ocean Wildlife initiative, SFP is working with stakeholders throughout the seafood supply chain to reduce bycatch and minimize the risks to endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species such as sharks, sea turtles, marine mammals, and sea birds.
Members of SFP’s bycatch team recently published a paper in Marine Policy Research reviewing the effectiveness of fishery improvement projects (FIPs) in galvanizing conservation and sustainability improvements in fisheries and addressing bycatch, with recommendations for the supply chain. Read the paper.
SFP Tools and Solutions for Reducing Bycatch
Reducing bycatch in Pacific Ocean longline tuna fisheries
New research from SFP highlights the impacts of commercial tuna longline fishing on endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species in the Western Central Pacific Ocean, and recommends actions that buyers of longline-caught canned and fresh/frozen tuna can take to reverse the decline of sharks, sea turtles, and seabirds in the region.
Protecting whales and ensuring a sustainable future for lobster and crab fisheries
The adoption of ropeless, or on-demand, fishing technologies can substantially reduce the risk of entanglement for the Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whale, and allow fishing and whales to coexist.
Solve My Bycatch Problem Tool
Our interactive Solve My Bycatch Problem tool allows users to find and evaluate various bycatch solutions, based on their relevance to specific species, effectiveness, ease of implementation, and cost.
Bycatch Audits
SFP conducts bycatch audits to assess a retailer’s seafood sourcing, in order to identify those fisheries that present significant risks to ETP species and identify actions that the retailer can take to address those threats.
What can I do?
Learn more about how you can help reduce bycatch in fisheries and protect ocean wildlife.