Boston, MA – At Seafood Expo North America in Boston, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP) today launched a new online, interactive tool that provides a visual evaluation of methods to reduce wildlife bycatch in tuna longline fisheries.
“Sustainable seafood means reducing the harm from fishing to sharks, marine mammals, sea turtles and seabirds,” said Kathryn Novak, global markets director at SFP. “Action by retailers and the entire seafood supply chain is essential to reducing bycatch of ocean wildlife.”
SFP unveiled Solve My Bycatch Problem at its Bycatch Solutions Open House today, where retailers and seafood suppliers had the opportunity to connect with experts on the latest bycatch reduction technologies and initiatives. Exhibitors included EdgeTech, Smelts, Ashored Inc., Hookpod, International Seafood Sustainability Forum (ISSF), and Birdlife International.
“Bycatch is a threat to seafood retailers and their suppliers as they work toward meeting sustainability policies and commitments,” said Alexia Morgan, ocean wildlife manager at SFP. “However, there are practical solutions to reduce bycatch, including adoption of current best practices and support of the development of new technologies for bycatch mitigation.”
The bycatch tool allows users to find and evaluate various bycatch solutions based on their relevance to specific species, effectiveness, ease of implementation, and cost.
Today’s event and the new tool are part of SFP’s Protecting Ocean Wildlife initiative, an international, industry-led effort to address marine wildlife bycatch, especially endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species. This first-of-its-kind initiative engages retailers, the seafood industry, and the entire supply chain to reduce bycatch in fisheries worldwide.