Well this is start – and informative material made quickly available after the March workshop – a sense of urgency. And the problem is urgent as this winter’s bycatch data shows. But the problems are clear, not least with huge numbers of dolphins being washed up on French and SW English coasts which Sea Shepherd has shown to be bycatch in the bass fishery. Elsewhere around the world there are good examples of successful – zero-tolerance – bycatch approaches – so why are we / and or the EU putting up with it in this fishery? Why are there no official observers on this fleet? This bass fishery is a huge problem not least for the management of bass! There is also a picture of the fishery taking a basking shark from Tara Lamborne (Sea Shepherd); the shark was released Bob Earll
Cefas ‘Cetacean Bycatch Workshop: Hauling Up Solutions
Exploring new ways to monitor and reduce cetacean bycatch in UK fisheries.
The Reducing Cetacean Bycatch project, funded by Defra and facilitated by Cefas, is working with experts and stakeholders to develop collaborative partnerships, improve understanding of UK cetacean bycatch, and identify and trial ways to better monitor and mitigate bycatch.
In March of this year, Cefas, ZSL and Defra hosted a unique, collaborative workshop focused on the issue of cetacean bycatch in UK fisheries. Exploring existing and new methods for monitoring and mitigation, the workshop brought together voices from across fishing, academia, science and technology. This wide range of stakeholders collaborated to envision and identify practical, affordable, and effective next steps to bring cetacean bycatch in the UK to as close to zero as possible.
Download the full event report here
Report: Key areas of agreement
“There is no easy solution to cetacean bycatch but we can’t make significant progress unless we all work together.” Catherine Bell, Defra
Although there were differing opinions within the room on the rate and level of change, there was a deep commitment to genuine action on driving down cetacean bycatch in UK commercial fisheries. The workshop was divided into two clear sections – monitoring and mitigation – for which current methods as well as future opportunities were identified and evaluated.
The invited stakeholders discussed options and collaboratively developed recommendations for future monitoring and mitigation approaches. These specific recommendations sit below several overarching principles, which were identified as key:
- Incentivise collaboration between the fishing industry and all stakeholders (including the wider supply chain) and ensure fishermen are involved at the heart of work to reduce cetacean bycatch;
- Where possible, bring monitoring and mitigation together – and balance the need for more information with the need to act;
- Work across boundaries: ‘we share our waters’ – a strategic approach is needed to ensure actions protect and monitor cetaceans which move across national boundaries.
A detailed list of recommendations is included in the final event report.
Download the detailed SWOT analyses carried out during the workshop here’
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