Fishing Bycatch and Non-Target Species Welfare

Fishing bycatch causes enormous welfare harm to millions of non-target marine animals annually, requiring urgent fisheries management reform.

Key Facts

Global fisheries bycatch is estimated at 40% of the total marine catch - approximately 38 million tonnes annually
Sea turtles, seabirds, marine mammals, sharks, and juvenile fish are among the most common bycatch species
Longline fishing kills an estimated 300,000 seabirds annually including albatrosses and petrels
Shrimp trawling has some of the highest bycatch ratios - up to 10 kg of bycatch per kg of target species
Mitigation technologies including turtle excluder devices, bird-scaring lines, and circle hooks reduce bycatch significantly
Consumer seafood certification schemes (MSC) require bycatch reduction as a certification criterion

Welfare Considerations

Bycatch causes profound welfare harm at massive scale: millions of animals are caught, injured, and killed in fishing gear each year as unintended capture. Sea turtles drown in trawl nets unable to reach the surface to breathe. Seabirds are hooked on longlines and dragged below the surface. Dolphins and porpoises drown in gill nets set for other species. The experience of capture, injury, and death in fishing gear is a significant welfare emergency repeated billions of times annually in the world's oceans. Much of this harm is preventable through existing technologies and modified fishing practices - the gap between what is technologically possible and what is implemented in fisheries represents an enormous preventable welfare harm.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by credible schemes requiring bycatch reduction measures (MSC, Best Aquaculture Practices)
Reduce consumption of high-bycatch seafood including shrimp from trawl fisheries
Support fishing industry organizations that are actively developing and adopting bycatch reduction technology
Advocate for mandatory adoption of available bycatch mitigation technologies in national and international fisheries
Engage with environmental organizations working on fisheries reform and bycatch reduction policy
Support research into novel fishing gear designs that allow target species capture while enabling non-target escape