Commercial Fishing Bycatch Welfare

Bycatch - the incidental capture of non-target species in fishing gear - kills billions of animals annually. Beyond conservation impacts, the welfare of bycatch animals during capture, handling, and discard is a significant concern.

Key Facts

An estimated 40% of global marine catch is bycatch - non-target species caught incidentally
Sea turtles, seabirds, marine mammals, sharks, and non-target fish species are all major bycatch categories
Longline fishing is particularly problematic for seabirds - an estimated 300,000+ seabirds die annually on longlines
Shrimp trawling is among the most bycatch-intensive fisheries: for every pound of shrimp, 5-10 pounds of bycatch may be discarded
Many bycatch animals survive catch but sustain injuries, barotrauma, or stress that affects post-release survival
Circle hooks and bird-scaring lines can reduce bycatch of sea turtles and seabirds by 80-90% in some fisheries
The EU's discard ban requires most bycatch to be landed rather than discarded, but implementation is complex

Welfare Considerations

Bycatch welfare encompasses the suffering of animals caught in gear not designed for them, held in inappropriate conditions, and often discarded alive with injuries. The scale is vast - bycatch mortality likely exceeds the target catch in some fisheries when measured by individual organisms. Welfare-positive fishing practices focus on gear design (circle hooks, turtle excluder devices, acoustic pingers) and operational practices (fishing time and location selection). Consumer choices for fisheries with lower bycatch rates (certified sustainable fisheries with explicit bycatch standards) create market incentives for improvement. Monitoring via electronic catch reporting makes bycatch data more transparent.

What You Can Do

Choose seafood certified by schemes with bycatch reduction requirements (MSC, Friend of the Sea)
Support the Seafood Watch program recommendations for low-bycatch fisheries
Advocate for mandatory use of turtle excluder devices and circle hooks in high-impact fisheries
Engage with retailers about their sourcing standards for bycatch reduction
Reduce consumption of species from high-bycatch fisheries (particularly tropical shrimp)
Support international campaigns for seabird-safe longline fishing standards