Marine Fish Bycatch Welfare: The Hidden Suffering of Non-Target Species

Welfare considerations for non-target fish and marine animals caught and discarded as bycatch in commercial fishing operations.

Key Facts

Global bycatch estimates range from 6-10 million tonnes annually with the discarded fish typically dying from injury, pressure change or suffocation
Bycatch includes not only fish but sea turtles, seabirds, marine mammals and elasmobranchs all of which are welfare-significant
Time out of water significantly affects fish survival and welfare with some species showing high survival rates when returned quickly to the sea
Turtle excluder devices reduce sea turtle bycatch by 97% in shrimp trawl fisheries demonstrating effective technical solutions for selective mortality
Bycatch reduction devices including fish excluders, modified net designs and acoustic pingers have reduced non-target capture in many fisheries
Landing obligation requirements in some jurisdictions force retention of bycatch rather than discarding, changing economic incentives for selective fishing
Consumer demand for specific seafood species drives fishing patterns that generate bycatch of less commercially desirable species

Welfare Considerations

Bycatch represents one of the largest categories of unacknowledged suffering in human food systems because the welfare dimension is obscured by scale, invisibility and the assumption that fish mortality is inconsequential. Billions of individual fish and marine animals die annually as bycatch, many experiencing significant suffering through the barotrauma of pressure change, suffocation in air, crushing by net pressure and the distress of handling. The welfare case for bycatch reduction aligns with conservation imperatives because bycatch species are frequently those with poor population status least able to sustain additional mortality. Technical solutions including modified net designs and excluder devices demonstrate that meaningful bycatch reduction is achievable without proportional reduction in target species catch.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by MSC or equivalent schemes that include bycatch minimization requirements
Ask retailers and restaurants about bycatch reduction measures required from their seafood suppliers
Support policies requiring bycatch reduction device use in all commercial fishing operations
Reduce seafood consumption overall to decrease the aggregate fishing pressure that generates bycatch
Support organizations developing and promoting bycatch reduction technology for global fishing fleets