Technical mitigation to reduce marine mammal bycatch and entanglement in commercial fishing gear: lessons learnt and future directions

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheryl Hamilton ◽  
G. Barry Baker
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Lessons Learnt

scholarly journals From Line to Loop, A Circular 3D Printing Initiative for Upcycling Commercial Fishing Plastics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Matthew O'Hagan
Keyword(s):  
3D Printing ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Fishing Industry ◽  
Distributed Manufacturing ◽  
Research Through Design ◽  
Management Scheme ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Manufacturing Technologies

<p>The current linear use of plastic products follows a take, make and waste process. Commonly used by large scale industries, including the commercial fishing industry, this process results in approximately 8 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean every year. While the fishing industry supplies livelihoods, a valuable food source and financial capital to millions of people worldwide, it’s also a significant contributor to the ocean plastics crisis. Without effective recycling schemes, an estimated 640,000 tonnes of plastic fishing gear is abandoned, lost or discarded within the ocean every year. New Zealand is no exception to this problem, as China’s waste import ban, as well as a lack of local recycling infrastructures, has resulted in the country’s commercial fishing gear polluting local coastlines as well as islands in the pacific. With the only other option for the plastic fishing gear being landfill, there is a critical need for circular initiatives that upcycle used plastic fishing gear locally into eco-innovative designs.  This research examines the issue by investigating how used buoys, aquaculture ropes and fishing nets from New Zealand’s fishing company ‘Sanford’ may be upcycled into eco-innovative designs through distributed manufacturing technologies. It introduces the idea of the circular economy, where plastic fishing gear can be reused within a technical cycle and explores how 3D printing could be part of the solution as it provides local initiatives, low material and energy usage and customisation. Overall, the research follows the research through design based on design criteria approach. Where materials, designs and systems are created under the refined research criteria, to ensure the plastic fishing gear samples are upcycled effectively into eco-innovative designs through 3D printing.  The tangible outputs of this research demonstrate how a circular upcycling system that uses distributed manufacturing technologies can create eco-innovative designs and provide a responsible disposal scheme for plastic fishing gear. It provides a new and more sustainable waste management scheme that could be applied to a range of plastic waste streams and diverts materials from entering the environment by continuously reusing them within the economy.</p>

Fishing-gear threat to right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) in Canadian waters and the risk of lethal entanglement

2011 ◽  
Vol 68 (12) ◽  
pp. 2174-2193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelia S.M. Vanderlaan ◽  
R. Kent Smedbol ◽  
Christopher T. Taggart
Keyword(s):  
Relative Risk ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Eubalaena Glacialis ◽  
Bay Of Fundy ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Critical Habitat ◽  
North Atlantic Right Whale ◽  
Right Whale ◽  
Right Whales

Commercial fishing gear can potentially entangle any whale, and this is especially true for the endangered North Atlantic right whale ( Eubalaena glacialis ), for which entanglement is second only to vessel strike as being responsible for documented right whale deaths. We use right whale survey data and Canadian fishing-gear deployment data to estimate the relative threat of gear entanglement in a Scotia–Fundy study area and the relative risk of lethal entanglement in the Bay of Fundy and on Roseway Basin, Scotian Shelf, where Critical Habitat has been legislated. We focus on groundfish and pelagic hook-and-line; groundfish gillnet; and crab-, hagfish-, and inshore and offshore lobster-trap gear. Our analyses demonstrate that groundfish hook-and-line gear poses the greatest threat to right whales among the seven gear types analysed during the summer-resident period in Critical Habitat and that gear from the lobster fisheries poses the greatest threat during the spring and autumn periods when whales are migrating to and from Critical Habitat. We suggest that area-specific seasonal closures of some fisheries would reduce threat and risk to whales without unduly compromising fishing interests.

Marine mammals and Japanese long-line fishing vessels in Australian waters: operational interactions and sightings

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Bell ◽  
Peter Shaughnessy ◽  
Margie Morrice ◽  
Bob Stanley
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Killer Whales ◽  
Fishing Vessels ◽  
Long Line ◽  
Target Fish ◽  
Pilot Whales ◽  
Warm Temperate

Observers from the Australian Fisheries Management Authority worked on randomly chosen Japanese long-line vessels in the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) between 1980 and 1997. Observer reports (n = 451) were inspected for interactions or sightings of marine mammals. An operational interaction was defined as an activity or behaviour that involved direct contact between a marine mammal and fishing gear, bait, target fish or bycatch, or indications that the marine mammal was feeding. A sighting was defined as the recording of marine mammals that passed the vessel without changing course and/or did not appear to interact with the vessel or its gear. Observers witnessed 23 interactions and made another 44 sightings of marine mammals. A further 24 interactions and sightings were relayed by crew members. Killer whales were reported most frequently: most incidences of fish being damaged, taken or frightened away were attributed to them. Eleven marine mammals were caught: two died, seven were released, and the fate of two others was not recorded. Between 1991 and 1996, when observer coverage was 11.5% overall in the AFZ, the incidence of interactions was 1.71 per million hooks set. The estimated number of interactions in that seven-year period was 157 in the AFZ. Since 1997, the long-line fishery has been conducted by Australian vessels, primarily off the east coast of mainland Australia in warm-temperate waters. A higher proportion of interactions can be expected with killer whales and short-finned pilot whales in these waters, and fewer with seals.

The Distribution and Density of Commercial Fisheries and Baleen Whales within the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary: July 2001–June 2002

2003 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
David N. Wiley ◽  
Just C. Moller ◽  
Kristin A. Zilinskas ◽  
David N. Wiley
Keyword(s):  
Interaction Potential ◽  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Otter Trawl ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Commercial Fisheries ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Potential Harm ◽  
Baleen Whales ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
Spatial Analyst

Research in a national marine sanctuary provides the ability to monitor, assess and understand changes in, and threats to, the area. In July 2001, the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary undertook a year-long study to quantify and map patterns of human and marine mammal use. Data were collected during monthly standardized shipboard surveys that bisected the Sanctuary at 5 km (2.5 nm) intervals. We used a subset of those data and ArcView's Spatial Analyst program to conduct an analysis of the density and distribution of fixed gear (trap and gillnet) fisheries, mobile gear (otter trawl and scallop dredge) fisheries and baleen whales. We used this to develop a “user geography” of the Sanctuary based on patterns of use and identify high use areas that might pose the risk of environmental damage. We also used ArcView to develop an index of Relative Interaction Potential (RIP) to identify where baleen whales might become entangled in fishing gear; a known threat within the Sanctuary. The RIP identified a number of areas that stood out in terms of entanglement risk. Information from the study will allow managers to identify future changes in Sanctuary use and investigate current areas of intense use for potential harm.

The marine mammal microbiome: current knowledge and future directions

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiffanie M Nelson ◽  
Amy Apprill ◽  
Janet Mann ◽  
Tracey L Rogers ◽  
Mark V Brown
Keyword(s):  
Marine Mammal ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Future Directions

Medical Student Mentorship in Surgery: Lessons Learnt and Future Directions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hassan ElHawary ◽  
Ali Salimi ◽  
Andrew Gorgy ◽  
Lara Fesdekjian ◽  
Alexander Seal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Student ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Lessons Learnt

scholarly journals Commercial fishing gear modifications to reduce interactions between Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) and the southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) fishery in North Carolina (USA)

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan C. Levesque ◽  
Christian Hager ◽  
Eric Diaddorio ◽  
R. Jason Dickey
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Atlantic Sturgeon ◽  
Paralichthys Lethostigma ◽  
Southern Flounder ◽  
Beneficial Impact ◽  
Acipenser Oxyrinchus

Bycatch of protected species in commercial fishing operations is a primary concern to fishery managers because it threatens the conservation, protection, and recovery of fragile species, such as the Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus). One potential solution to reduce the risk associated with commercial fishing operations is to design commercial fishing gear that is more selective in terms of interactions between Atlantic sturgeon and commercial fisheries. Given this conservation and management need, the overarching goal was to reduce Atlantic sturgeon fishery interactions and maintain southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma) catch in North Carolina. The specific objectives of this study were to design and evaluate the effectiveness of a modified gillnet. Overall, the results proved that lowering the profile and amount of webbing had a beneficial impact at reducing Atlantic sturgeon incidental encounters and bycatch. The modified gillnet reduced bycatch and Atlantic sturgeon encounters by 39.6% and 60.9%, respectively. Our design entangled 51.6% fewer southern flounder, which corresponded to a 48.9% reduction in total weight; the modified gear entangled slightly larger southern flounder than the control gear. Our findings showed the number of Atlantic sturgeon encounters was positively associated with mean water depth, with more Atlantic sturgeon encountered in deeper (5.1–6.3 m) than shallower waters; 75% were encountered at depths between 4.6 and 6.1 m. Most southern flounder (n= 518, 39.7%) were taken at a water depth between 3.76 and 5.0 m. This observation suggests that southern flounder prefer slightly shallower waters than Atlantic sturgeon.

Fish Habitat: Essential Fish Habitat and Rehabilitation

1999 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Fishing Gear ◽  
Type Conversion ◽  
Bottom Trawling ◽  
Reef Corals ◽  
Marine Areas ◽  
Associated Species

<em>Abstract</em> — The increasing concern about impacts of bottom trawling, scallop dredging, and other mobile fishing methods has focused primarily on effects on commercial fisheries, but these fishing activities also act more broadly on benthic biological diversity. Because the seabed is erroneously envisioned as a featureless, nearly lifeless plain, impacts of commercial fishing gear have long been underestimated. Structures on and in the seabed, including biogenic structures (reef corals, kelp holdfasts, shells, tubes, and tunnels), create a diversity of habitat patches. They provide refuges from predation and feeding places for demersal fishes and other species. Benthic structural complexity is positively correlated with species diversity and postsettlement survivorship of some commercial fishes. Mobile fishing gear disturbs the seabed, damaging benthic structures and harming structure-associated species, including commercially important fishes, although some other commercial fish species can persist where seabed structures have been removed. Bottom trawling is therefore similar to forest clear-cutting, but it is far more extensive and is converting very large areas of formerly structurally complex, biologically diverse seabed into the marine equivalent of low-diversity cattle pasture. In contrast with the U.S. National Forest Management Act, which governs use of living resources in federally owned forestlands, the 1996 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act does not prevent ecosystem “type conversion” and ignores the need to maintain biological diversity. Preventing further loss of marine biodiversity and key fisheries will depend on our willingness to protect marine areas from effects of mobile fishing methods.

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