Innovation and technology key to reducing marine bycatch and protecting endangered marine species – WWF report.
- New report reveals high-risk areas for Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) bycatch in UK seafood supply chains and evaluates the effectiveness, costs, and benefits of mitigation measures—highlighting promising innovations for more sustainable fisheries.
- The report calls for urgent action to eliminate ETP bycatch from the UK’s seafood supply chains, the seafood sector urging stronger policies, greater adoption of innovative mitigation methods, improved data and verification, and enhanced research into ETP interactions.
- Millions of endangered species are caught as bycatch annually, including whales, dolphins, turtles, seabirds, and sharks, threatening global biodiversity and the reputation of UK seafood supply chains.
- Technical innovations including acoustic devices, net lights, ropeless buoys and others can significantly reduce bycatch and protect marine life. As well as implementing ETP bycatch mitigation measures, verifying their use and effectiveness using REM is crucial to ensure they are having an impact, and to provide assurances to the supply chain.
- Eliminating bycatch of ETP species in the UK seafood supply chain offers substantial benefits for nature, governments, fishers, and the seafood industry.
- The report calls for urgent collaboration among retailers, suppliers, policymakers, and the finance sector to scale up these innovative measures.
Every year millions of endangered species, from whales and dolphins, turtles, seabirds and sharks, are inadvertently caught as bycatch by fisheries and aquaculture around the world, including those supplying UK markets.
The impact of this is devastating to our oceans and threatens the sustainability of the UK seafood supply chain. The marine biodiversity has declined by 56% since 1970 in which fishing activities pose the biggest threat to the survival of marine wildlife.
With over half the world’s population, over 3 billion people*, relying on the oceans for their key source of food, the consequences for the planet and population would be dire.
For fishers the economic consequences of bycatch are equally stark. It can lead to gear damage, operational inefficiencies, and restricted market access as buyers and policymakers increasingly require evidence of sustainable fishing practices. However, there are emerging solutions.
Not in the Net, a new report by WWF, explores how this threat to both the global fishing industry and marine biodiversity can be overcome through technical innovations. The report makes it clear that most successful innovations have involved collaboration between seafood supply chain players, fishers, regulators and scientists, allowing for rapid and adaptive iteration of mitigation measures.
By adopting these practices, retailers can help to secure the long-term viability of fisheries, and also position themselves as leaders, demonstrating commitment to responsible sourcing, strengthening consumer trust, and also enhancing their public profile.
Among the innovations discussed in the report are:
- Acoustic devices and net lights: Acoustic deterrents or “pingers” reduce harbour porpoise bycatch by 70-100% in trials, while green LED lights have shown a 60-80% reduction in turtle bycatch.
- Hook-shielding devices: Prevent seabirds from accessing baited hooks on longlines until these are beyond the birds’ diving depth, with Hookpods, which open to release the hook past a certain depth, showing a 95% reduction in seabird bycatch risk.
- Longline sensory devices: SharkGuard emits electrical pulses to deter sharks, has a 91% reduction in blue shark bycatch and 71% reduction in pelagic stingray.
- TrawlFlomo: Uses high-strength composite fabric with holes instead of traditional mesh, cod-ends and lengtheners in trawl nets, facilitating the escape of undersized fish at capture depth.
- Smart trawl: Uses a patented gate system and AI to identify and release non-target species Before they enter the net.
- Pot line innovations: Sinking rope which prevents loops of rope at the seabed, reducing risks of entanglement in groundlines, smart buoys which can send information on a change in movement which may indicate an entanglement, and mechanisms like acoustic release devices and a float bag to bring pots or traps to the surface,
- Innovations in fish aggregating device (FAD) technology: deployed by tuna vessels present entanglement risks to a range of species including elasmobranchs and turtles. Jelly-FADs are designed to be non-entangling and biodegradable to reduce this risk and to prevent ghost fishing and habitat impacts
- Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) systems: Crucial for verifying bycatch measures, providing accurate, independent, and continuous data on fishing activities, ensuring compliance and enabling the evaluation of bycatch mitigation efforts
Despite the potential benefits of these mitigation measures, barriers to their implementation persist, including a lack of monitoring, limited access to finance, and slow regulatory processes. The report argues that stakeholders should work towards four strategic goals:
- Strengthen policies to eliminate ETP bycatch in the UK’s seafood production and supply chains
- Incentivise trials and adoption of innovative ETP bycatch mitigation on fishing vessels
- Improve data collection on ETP bycatch and the verification of use of mitigation measures
- Enhance research on and understanding of ETP interactions to further improve mitigation measures
Sophie Bauer, Head of Food Transformation, WWF said:
“Protecting our oceans is vital to our fight against the destruction of nature, and with innovative solutions available we have a technological edge that can help preserve at risk species.
However, widespread adoption is essential if we are to counter this critical threat. This must be a partnership. Retailers must implement effective bycatch mitigation techniques within supply chains, policymakers must enforce stricter regulations and stronger trade and fisheries policies, and fisheries must continue to trial innovative new mitigation measures.
By fully embracing these strategies and technologies, we can dramatically reduce bycatch and ensure a sustainable future for our fragile marine ecosystem .”
Lucinda Langton, Head of Sustainability at M&S Food, said:
“Bycatch is one of the biggest environmental threats facing our oceans today, but exciting innovations are emerging to tackle it head-on.
Through our partnership with WWF, M&S is proud to be embedding cutting-edge mitigation measures into the M&S seafood supply chain, helping to protect endangered, threatened, and protected species.
To drive lasting change, it will need the catching sector, supply chain and government policy which supports the adoption of these innovations.”
The report is available here.
Photo by Athanasios Papazacharias on Unsplash