Bycatch News

New funding opportunity to support testing of bycatch reduction devices and techniques in developing country fisheries.

Consortium Director Tim Werner and industry member Patrice McCarron gave invited presentations at a west coast meeting on whale entanglements organized by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Canadian authorities report an unprecedented spate of right whale deaths from the Gulf of St. Lawrence

We are seeking proposals to develop a 3/8” diameter endline with 1700lb virgin breaking strength that is comparable to those currently used in northwest Atlantic lobster pot fisheries. 

Jeffry Fasick of University of Tampa and colleagues show North Atlantic right whales perceive their prey using vision at multiple ocean depths.

A recent article by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation covered proposed measures by the Canadian Government to mitigate deaths to right whales from fishing gear entanglement. In the article, Consortium Director Tim Werner discussed the prospect of ropeless fishing, in which surface lines and buoys might be submerged near the seafloor with crab, lobster, or fish traps to reduce entanglement risk. 

Bycatch Consortium Director Tim Werner on CBC Radio and NPR's "Here and Now" discussing current Consortium research into technologies for preventing large whale entanglements in fishing ropes.

Story featured in the Boston Globe

The Consortium-sponsored research shows that reducing excess rope strength in fishing gear could cut North Atlantic right whale deaths from entanglements by 72 percent.