The Bycatch Mitigation Initiative

Introduction

Bycatch is the incidental capture of non-target species in fishing gear. It is a global conservation and fisheries management issue, believed to be by far the single most serious threat to cetaceans.  Globally, it is estimated that at least 300,000 cetaceans are killed as bycatch every year.

Bycatch of cetaceans occurs in all kinds of fishing operations: from large industrial to localised artisanal fisheries. It also occurs in most types of fishing gear although gillnets and entangling nets are known to cause the highest amount of cetacean bycatch.

Across the world's fisheries, there is quite limited bycatch monitoring, reporting and data collection. A number of initiatives and efforts are ongoing but it remains difficult to assess and identify priority locations and populations.

Effective mitigation is only possible if the social, economic, environmental and technical aspects of the problem are tackled together. This means that effective collaboration is crucial and must involve fishing industries and communities, fisheries management organisations, fishing gear developers and governments.

As the leading global body addressing cetacean science, conservation and management, the IWC has the capacity to play a significant role in global efforts to address bycatch and in 2016, endorsed a new Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI).  The overall aim is to prevent bycatch by developing, assessing and promoting effective bycatch prevention and mitigation measures world-wide.

The BMI is advised by a multi-disciplinary Expert Panel who provide specialist advice. Their expertise ranges from fishing technology and economics to ecology, law and regulation.  Panel members are also spread across the world to capture as many different perspectives as possible.

The Initiative has a 10-year strategic plan and a four-year workplan (2025-28). The current focus is on gillnet bycatch in small-scale fisheries, although some work continues on bycatch in other gears and fisheries.  The BMI concentrates on four main areas: 

• improved assessment of bycatch to determine priorities and to measure success;
• innovation and testing of mitigation and management methods and approaches (no single solution exists to prevent cetacean bycatch);
• capacity building and transfer of expertise, technology and management measures between countries and fishing communities;
• engagement and collaboration with other relevant international organisations focused on fisheries management and bycatch.

Key collaborators

FAO

A key partner in bycatch mitigation is the Fisheries and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). 

Guidelines & Factsheets

The IWC has worked in partnership with FAO to develop advice aimed primarily at fishery managers, fishers and researchers. Guidelines have been jointly developed to prevent and reduce bycatch. These were followed by a series of 12 factsheets which summarise and illustrate mitigation measures including acoustic deterrent devices (also known as pingers), how to switch of modify fishing gear types, and temporary area closures. 

Common Oceans Tuna Project II

Beginning in 2023, this is an FAO-funded, four-year project to improve understanding of cetacean bycatch in tuna fisheries, specifically in Exclusive Economic Zones and areas beyond national jurisdiction within the Indian and western Pacific oceans. The project will also look at practical solutions relevant to tuna fisheries in this region.

CIBBRiNA

CIBBRiNA is an EU funded programme to minimise bycatch in the region’s waters through a series of eight region-specific work packages. The IWC is collaborating on five of these, each one working with fishers, authorities, scientists and others to produce a suite of effective bycatch reduction measures.

ByRA

Bycatch Risk Assessment (ByRA) is an open-source toolkit using Geographic Information System technology to enable assessment of bycatch risk using any amount or type of data available. This enables identification of critical areas for further research and/or immediate management actions, and the BMI has included ByRA training in a number of workshops, from Colombia to Cameroon.

GWERN

The BMI works in partnership with another IWC work programme, the Global Whale Entanglement Response Network (GWERN). This pioneering initiative actively addresses welfare, conservation and human safety impacts of large whale entanglement through a global programme of training workshops and apprenticeships.

Further reading on the BMI and related topics

• 10 Year Strategic Plan
• Four-Year Workplan 2025-28
• Information on the BMI Expert Panel
• FAO Marine Mammal Bycatch Mitigation Factsheets
• FAO Guidelines to prevent and reduce bycatch of marine mammals in capture fisheries.
• IWC Principles and Guidelines for large whale entanglement response efforts
• IWC Guidelines for responding to entangled, free swimming small cetaceans  
• CMS Technical Guidelines for the safe and humane handling and release of bycaught small cetaceans from fishing gear

Donations

The work of the Global Whale Entanglement Network is only possible thanks to generous voluntary contributions from governments and other organisations. If your organisation is interested in donating in support this programme please contact secretariat@iwc.int.