Supporting Innovation in Bycatch Reduction
Turtle Excluder Device, Bycatch Reduction Device combo being tested by Texas A&M University as part of their 2012 BREP funding. Photo credit: Texas A&M University.| Useful Links National Bycatch Program Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) 2013 BREP Grant Awards (PDF) National Bycatch Report National Cooperative Research Program |
As part of its BREP-funded research, the New England Aquarium is using ultrasonic transmitters to help estimate the post-release mortality of angled and released Atlantic cod. Photo credit: New England Aquarium.
September 19, 2013
In September 2013, NOAA Fisheries awarded 16 grants totaling nearly $2.4 million as part of its Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program. Bycatch of various species—whether fish, marine mammals, or turtles—can have significant, biological, economic, and social impacts. Preventing and reducing bycatch is a shared goal of fisheries managers, the fishing industry, and the environmental community. It is also a key component of NOAA’s efforts to end and prevent overfishing in the United States under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.
NOAA Fisheries’ Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program provides funds critical to key partners for the research and development of innovative approaches and strategies for reducing bycatch, seabird interactions, bycatch mortality, and post-release mortality of non-target species and protected species in federally managed fisheries. Ongoing projects are conducting research intended, among other things, to:
- Reduce bycatch of Atlantic sturgeon and harbor porpoise in the monkfish gillnet fishery.
- Develop best capture and handling practices for Atlantic cod in Gulf of Maine recreational hook-and-line fisheries.
- Reduce bycatch of overfished rockfish species in the U.S. Pacific hake fishery.
- Enhance the visibility of fishing ropes to reduce right whale entanglements.
Find more program accomplishments in the annual report to Congress.
2013 Grant Recipients – Exploring Innovative Ways to Reduce Bycatch
The newly-awarded projects address a variety of species, including river herring, butterfish, summer flounder, halibut, coastal sharks, black sea bass, Atlantic sturgeon, monkfish, sea turtles, sablefish, West Coast groundfish, Pacific rockfish, baleen whales, Eulachon, and ocean shrimp. A list of grant recipients by region is listed below. For more details on each project, explore the project abstracts.
Alaska
| Alaska Charter Association |
| Project title: Use of digital imaging technology in the reduction of released halibut mortality in Alaska's recreational fishery |
Northeast
| BelleQuant Engineering |
| Project title: Modeling the dynamics of Baleen whale entanglements in fishing gear |
| Integrity Fishing Corp. |
| Project title: Minimizing bottom habitat impacts in the otter trawl fishery with a light weight riser sweeper |
| Fairleigh Dickinson University |
| Project title: Optimization of gear size and post-release mortality reduction in the New Jersey summer flounder hook and line fishery |
| Cornell University |
| Project title: Enhanced bycatch avoidance communication network for river herring and butterfish |
| University of Maryland Eastern Shore |
| Project title: Determination of the impacts of trap fishing on Mid-Atlantic benthic habitats, with emphasis on structure-forming invertebrates |
Northwest
| Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission |
| Project title: Reducing sablefish and rockfish bycatch in the U.S. West Coast groundfish bottom trawl directed flatfish fishery |
| The Nature Conservancy |
| Project title: Pot gear innovation for the West Coast groundfish trawl fishery |
| Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission |
| Project title: Reducing ESA‐listed eulachon bycatch in the ocean shrimp trawl fishery: can increasing the visibility of trawl components improve bycatch reduction? |
Southeast and Caribbean
| Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission |
| Project title: Testing an alternative method for the safe release of reef fishes caught on hook-and-line gear in the recreational fishery in the Gulf of Mexico |
| Gulf and South Atlantic Fisheries Foundation, Inc. |
| Project title: Further evaluation of a topless bottom trawl design with regard to excluding sea turtles |
| Cardno ENTRIX |
| Project title: Commercial fishing gear modifications to reduce Atlantic sturgeon interactions in North Carolina and Mid-Atlantic gillnet fisheries |
Southwest
| Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research (PIER) |
| Project title: Facilitating the development and future implementation of a deep-set buoy gear fishery off the California Coast |
| UC San Diego (Scripps Oceanographic Institution) |
| Project title: Examining environmental effects on rockfish catch-and-release survival: does low oxygen contribute to mortality following barotrauma? |
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species
| MOTE Marine Laboratory |
| Project title: Novel technology to assess mortality from bycatch in large coastal sharks |
International
| SUBMON |
| Project title: Training of U.S. longline fishermen and fishery observers to increase post-release survival of accidentally captured sea turtles and other protected species |
