Bycatch News
New England doesn’t show much in the spring on land. For me the arrival of spring is when Critically Endangered North Atlantic right whales appear off of Cape Cod, after hanging out south before migrating northward where most spend their summer. And, alas, we have the news in the attached You Tube link on yet another entanglement in fishing gear. If you eat lobster or crab learn where it’s from! Let your stores and restaurants know why you want to know. Gradually we can make a difference before the 350 individuals that remain succumb and go extinct from excessive boat strikes and these entanglements. In the meantime I also am working with colleagues on building markets for the most sustainably caught lobster and crab off New England. Although we got the feds to agree on a implementing regulations that would keep our fishermen on the water while making it safer for whales, a small but strong group of lobster fishermen complained to Congress, and got them to delay their implementation for a species with little time left. Please educate your family and friends too but avoid sounding preachy. Together we can do this.
In recent years, whale entanglements have grown in number in the southern portion of the Dungeness crab fishery, and earlier in the season. The Government of California plans to implement closures as a way to mitigate the problem.
See: https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocean/Regulations/Inseason
Sharks among the most endangered groups of animals from bycatch. A new study examined the impacts of retention bans on shark populations. It concluded that in some cases they can be beneficial, but avoiding bycatch in the first place is of paramount importance such as making modifications to fishing gear and practices.
Article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/faf.12892
A journalist summarizes the status of legislation in Europe and North America intended to reduce bycatch.
See: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/07/us/harriet-tubman-underground-railroad-national-parks-service/index.html
Mexican authorities physically removed gillnets used in the illegal fishery for critically endangered totoaba. These nets are also responsible for causing the bycatch of the critically endangered vaquita porpoise, of which only an estimated 10 individuals remain.
See https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/environment-sustainability/mexico-law-enforcement-remove-illegal-gillnets-rescue-surviving-totoaba?utm_source=marketo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=newsletter&mkt_tok=NzU2LUZXSi0wNjEAAAGZlqd24s_tjC32w0yoGEFGQ9c8osaDC-uQWeeHoc7R2rQ4_TkKb5NArexd5YspznuTJc4hRwxFUswfOdOWkDeHxeN9nm3wzQ7TISGztLXL2qYb_lYqMw
China, the country with the world's greatest number of consumers idwntifies promise of seafood certification. Information from their report : https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/chinese-consumer-preferences-report-shows-opportunity-for-certification-schemes-to-make-inroads?utm_source=marketo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=newsletter&mkt_tok=NzU2LUZXSi0wNjEAAAGZdiEEGYQBHrJ03v0GqqWDCYsKwsM8VcoFPWeKKr7zYDO6qhGa-Xxxm0SLdRr2Q_vBgYvOzx4h0MmgRFOSQOvtlDRI2n64HKFd8PuJBaB1iKslV_GItQ
The European Cetacean Society has released the proceedings of a workshop entitled: "Use of pathology to better inform the welfare impact assessment of bycatch and entanglements". Click on this link to read and download the report: https://www.europeancetaceansociety.eu/63
Several environmental groups are calling for the use of bycatch reduction devices to reduce diamondback terrapin bycatch in Virginia crab pot fisheries.
Here is the Press Release: https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/virginia-petition-seeks-to-protect-diamondback-terrapins-from-drowning-in-crab-traps-2025-02-12/
A one month cessation of fishing, including the provision of 80% ib lost revenues to fishermen, resulted in keeping the industry alive while reducing thousands of dolphin deaths.
See this press coverage of the story: https://www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/dolphin-bycatch-ban-france-fishing/
We are sad to belatedly report on the death of one of the founding members of the Consortium for Wildlife Bycatch Reduction: Professor Kenneth Baldwin of the University of New Hampshire.