Bycatch News
Schmidt Marine Technology Partners is currently accepting short applications for innovative technologies with significant scaling or commercialization potential. Funding focus areas include: sustaining fisheries, habitat health, ocean observing, and network support. Initial proposals are accepted through July 31, 2026.
Learn more: https://schmidtmarine.org/proposals/
From the Fishing Daily: In 2025, California commercial Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister) fishermen conducted the third consecutive year of trials of on-demand crab traps designed by Sub Sea Sonics and Guardian Ropeless systems in areas that were closed to conventional crab gear due to the risk of entangling threatened and endangered whale species. Fishers landed more than 217,000 crabs during the trials, valued at approximately $1.4 million. Following the successful trial, Sea Sonics and Guardian Ropeless Systems are collaborating with local fishers to achieve full authorization for on-demand gear to be used during the upcoming fishing season.
Read more: Ropeless Fishing Gear Trials Successfully Revitalize Closed Crab Fishery
From Newsroom: Fisheries New Zealand has released its South Island Hector's Dolphin Bycatch Reduction Plan Report for the fishing year ending in October 2025. The report found that eight dolphins were caught in commercial fishing activity throughout the year, none of which were released alive. Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori) are listed as Endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and are the only cetacean endemic to New Zealand.
Read more: Cameras on boars reveal second-highest Hector's dolphin bycatch in a decade
From Fishing News: Three gillnet fishers participating in a Clean Catch trial exploring the use of pingers to mitigate small cetacean bycatch in the U.K. attended the European Cetacean Society's Annual Conference to share their experiences adopting bycatch mitigation practices.
Read more: Cornish skippers share bycatch mitigation expertise
From National Fisherman: Research from the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and United States National Marine Fisheries Service found that the use of multi-object tracking (MOT) inside pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) trawls to monitor fishing and evaluate salmon excluder performance can inform the design of more selective fishing gear and enable real-time monitoring during fishing. However, more work is needed to create standardized and efficient methods for creating and using the data.
Read more: Research continues toward automated bycatch monitoring
The Shark Conservation Fund (SCF) is a collaboration of philanthropists dedicated to restoring ocean health through sweeping shark and ray conservation. SCF's goal is to help maintain the vibrancy of the world’s oceans by halting the overexploitation of sharks and rays and to prevent extinctions through strategic, collaborative, and catalytic grantmaking. The Small Grant Fund supports these objectives by providing grants of up to $25,000, with a duration of 18 months. SCF allocates $250,000 annually for Small Grants, funding up to 10 projects each year.
Please note the application period for this grant has now closed.
From Seafood Source: The Center for Biological Diversity, the Port Royal Sound Foundation, and Lowcountry Ecological have filed a petition with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources in the United States asking the state government to require bycatch reduction devices on all blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) pots in order to protect diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin). Multiple states along the East Coast of the United States already require bycatch reduction devices on recreational and commercial crab pots.
From Seafood Source: Canada's government has announced several measures to help protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) during the upcoming year, including measures to reduce the risk of interaction with fishing gear.
Read more: Canada announces North Atlantic right whale protections for 2026
From Fishing News: North Sea whitefish vessels have reached a milestone in a new bycatch monitoring trial. Participating vessels are using remote electronic monitoring cameras on seven vessels, as well as sensors on conveyor belts, to collect baseline data on the frequency of seabird interactions.
Read more: Co-designed bird bycatch avoidance trial rolled out - Fishing News
From the Responsible Seafood Advocate: Fatal interactions with orca whales in the Bering Sea deep-water flatfish fishery spurred industry to collaborate with scientists, gear manufacturers, and marine mammal experts to develop a "killer whale fence" that deters orcas from following fish into trawl nets.