Wildlife

Bycatch in Commercial Fishing: Scale and Solutions

Bycatch — the unintentional capture of non-target species — kills hundreds of millions of marine animals annually, including dolphins, turtles, seabirds, and sharks.

Key Facts

Global bycatch is estimated at 40% of total marine catch, or roughly 38 million tonnes annually
Longlines targeting tuna kill hundreds of thousands of seabirds each year
Turtle excluder devices can reduce sea turtle bycatch by over 90%
Acoustic deterrents called pingers significantly reduce porpoise bycatch in gillnets
Several dolphin and whale species face extinction largely due to bycatch mortality

Welfare Considerations

Bycatch animals experience significant suffering. Air-breathing marine mammals and turtles drown in nets; seabirds become entangled and drown on longlines; sharks and rays are landed, de-finned, and discarded. Even when animals are released alive, the stress and injury from capture can be fatal. The scale of this mortality represents one of the most significant anthropogenic causes of wildlife suffering in the world, yet much of it remains invisible to consumers.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by organisations with stringent bycatch reduction standards
Advocate for mandatory bycatch reduction devices on fishing vessels
Support policies requiring observers on fishing vessels to monitor and report bycatch
Reduce consumption of high-bycatch species such as shrimp trawled from wild stocks
Donate to organisations working on bycatch reduction technology and policy