Resources on bycatch and FADs
You can find news stories, popular articles, opinion pieces and blog posts on bycatch on the Bycatch news and views page.
Fact sheets
- Bycatch, WWF Pacific
- Non-entangling and biodegradable FADs, ISSF, 2019. This nine-page guide is in English. It is also available in several other languages.
- A set of 15 fact sheets on decreasing seabird bycatch, Birdlife International, 2014. The fact sheets that apply to the Western and Central Pacific longline fisheries are:
Demersal and pelagic longline: night-setting
Pelagic longline: Streamer lines (vessels ≥ 35 metres)
Pelagic longline: Streamer lines (vessels < 35 metres)
Pelagic longline: Line weighting
Pelagic longline: Side-setting
Pelagic longline: Blue-dyed bait
Pelagic longline: Bait caster and line shooter
Demersal and pelagic longline: Haul mitigation - Bycatch reduction in global tuna fisheries, Lenfest Ocean Program, July 2011
Technical papers
- Public domain bycatch data for the WCPO, WCPFC
- Compendium of ISSF research activities to reduce FAD structure impacts on the ecosystem, technical report 2020-13, ISSF, 2020
- Stock assessment for oceanic whitetip shark in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, Laura Temblay-Boyer, Felipe Carvalho, Philipp Neubauer and Graham Pilling, 2019
- ISSF skippers workshops round 9, ISSF, 2020, covers collaboration between purse-seine fishers and scientists to reduce bycatch
- ISSF guidebooks for skippers describe the suggested best practices related to bycatch mitigation and handling, and include for purse seine and longline fishing
- FADs: the good and the bad, Tuna Market Intelligence issue 70, PNA, 2018
- PNA FAD management scheme, PNA, 2018
Redevelopment of the Bycatch Management Information System, WCPFC, 2015 - Proposal for a bycatch data exchange protocol (BDEP) among regional fisheries management organisations, WCPFC, 2015
- Bycatch in longline fisheries for tuna and tuna-like species: a global review of status and mitigation measures, WCPFC, 2014
- Bycatch in longline fisheries for tuna and tuna-like species, FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Technical Paper 588, 2014
- Summary of research and results from the second cruise of the bycatch project of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, WCPFC, 2013
- At-sea experiment to evaluate the effectiveness of multiple mitigation measures on pelagic longline operations in western North Pacific, WCPFC, 2013
- Purse-seine bycatch mitigation techniques, WCPFC, 2010
- Minimizing bycatch of sensitive species groups in marine capture fisheries: lessons from tuna fisheries, IUCN
Seabirds
- At-sea experiment to develop the mitigation measures of seabirds for small longline vessels in the western North Pacific, WCPFC, 2015
- The overlap of threatened seabirds with reported bycatch areas between 25° and 30° South in the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Area, WCPFC, 2015
- Mitigating seabird bycatch during hauling by pelagic longline vessels, WCPFC, 2014
- Electronic monitoring of seabird bycatch, WCPFC, 2013
- Recording seabird bycatch in longline observer programs, WCPFC, 2008
Sharks, rays, turtles and dolphins
- Shark and ray identification manual: for observers and crew of the western and central Pacific tuna fisheries, Pacific Community, 2020
- Rapid assessment toolkit for sharks and rays, WWF and James Cook University
- Draft best practice mitigation guidelines for sharks and rays taken in purse-seine and long-line fisheries, Conservation of Migratory Sharks Working Group, 2016
- Analysis of sea turtlemitigation measure effectiveness in tuna longline fisheries, WCPFC, 2015
- A review of shark bycatch mitigation in tuna longline fisheries, WCPFC, 2014
Infographics
- Non-entangling FADs: Skipper acceptance levels, ISSF, February 2019. The infographic tracks skippers increasing acceptance of non-entangling fish-aggregating devices (FADs) as they switch from traditional FADs to reduce bycatch of sharks and other animals in tuna fisheries.
- Bycatch mitigation research: Progress report, ISSF, February 2018
- Improving silky shark survival, ISSF, February 2017
- Protecting sharks: Reducing shark bycatch in purse seine fisheries, ISSF, September 2016
- Non-target species caught in tuna fisheries, ISSF, April 2016
- Saving sea turtles, ISSF, April 2016
- The bigger the school, the better the catch, ISSF, September 2013
- Shark bycatch in purse seine fisheries, ISSF, September 2013
- Non-entangling FADs: Skipper acceptance levels, ISSF, February 2019. The infographic tracks skippers increasing acceptance of non-entangling fish-aggregating devices (FADs) as they switch from traditional FADs to reduce bycatch of sharks and other animals in tuna fisheries.
- Bycatch mitigation research: Progress report, ISSF, February 2018
- Improving silky shark survival, ISSF, February 2017
- Protecting sharks: Reducing shark bycatch in purse seine fisheries, ISSF, September 2016
- Non-target species caught in tuna fisheries, ISSF, April 2016
- Saving sea turtles, ISSF, April 2016
- The bigger the school, the better the catch, ISSF, September 2013
- Shark bycatch in purse seine fisheries, ISSF, September 2013
Posters and videos
- ISSF bycatch-handling videos for sharks, seabirds and turtles
Laurent Dagorn, a senior scientist with the French Research Institute for Development, outlines the usefulness of FADs when their use is well controlled (3.39 mins).
ISSF explains the use of FADs in tuna fishing, and the need to collect more data on how they are used and how they should be used (1.00 min).
- The Pacific Community presents a documentary that explains a typical longline expedition to catch tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, from setting out to the processing of the catch back in port. It features interviews with fishers and observers, and explains the role of the observer (16.42 mins).