How We Can Mitigate Marine Mammal Bycatch Around the World

We are supporting two projects to foster shared learning and resources worldwide to design effective marine mammal bycatch assessments. 

Marine mammal bycatch is an international challenge that extends to multiple types of commercial and artisanal fishing activities. Thus, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2016 issued the MMPA Import Provisions, which require nations that export fish and fish products to the U.S. to adhere to bycatch standards comparable in effectiveness to those in the U.S.  By January 2023, nations must apply for and receive a “comparability finding” for each of their fisheries to continue exporting fish and fish products into the U.S.

The new standards pose an opportunity to reduce marine mammal bycatch substantially worldwide. However, they also create a challenge for many countries that do not have existing bycatch assessment and monitoring programs or the resources to develop and sustain such programs.

Supporting an International Team of Experts

In 2018, the Ocean Modeling Forum convened the Marine Mammal Bycatch Working Group to address the growing need for bycatch assessment protocols that can be tailored to specific conditions encountered by fisheries managers in differing regions. Dr. Tessa Francis, lead ecosystem ecologist with University of Washington Tacoma’s Puget Sound Institute, Dr. André Punt, professor at University of Washington, and Dr. Rob Williams, co-founder of the Oceans Initiative, lead the team of scientists contributing to the international effort.

“The working group is comprised of experts in this field representing a wide array of perspectives from management, academic research, and practitioners,” says Dr. Francis. “Through their collaboration, we’ve identified a variety of best practices to assess marine mammal bycatch and its impacts and compiled it all into one accessible package of information. We focused our efforts on providing and developing tools for data-poor fisheries and poorly monitored marine mammal populations, so that any country, with few resources, can start to build an assessment program.” 

The tools and resources produced by the group explore how to:

• Understand which fisheries have a bycatch problem,
• Collect the best data to quantify marine mammal abundance and bycatch rates,
• Develop reference points to set measurable conservation or recovery goals, and
• Identify and monitor actions to reduce bycatch.

“The working group has reviewed countless strategies and datasets to provide guidance to the community. This work basically provides a roadmap to help countries accelerate progress toward their own marine sustainability and conservation goals. We’re excited by the feedback we’ve gotten from collaborators, and some countries are already adopting these tools or building upon them in their own programs,” says Dr. Punt. A good example of this is a collaborative effort in Chile to conduct a bycatch risk assessment for fisheries along their coast.

Mapping Bycatch Risk in Chile

Stemming in part from work with the Marine Mammal Bycatch Working Group, fisheries scientists, managers, and stakeholders in Chile are adapting scientific models to gain a better understanding of marine mammal bycatch rates in their own waters, where the commercial fishing industry is a vital component of the country’s economy. The team is led by Dr. Ellen Hines, San Francisco State University, Dr. Maritza Sepúlveda, Universidad de Valparaíso, and Dr. Carlos Montenegro Silva, Instituto de Fomento Pesquero (IFOP).

To assess bycatch risk, they are using the Bycatch Risk Assessment toolbox, or ByRA- a GIS-based toolbox that visualizes potential interactions between fisheries and marine mammals- that was developed by Dr. Hines and tested in parts of Southeast Asia. “By using ByRA, we can work with local scientists, managers, and the fishing community to pull together the information we already have, even if it’s minimal, and use this to inform what management strategies can increase long-term sustainable fishing and decrease marine mammal mortalities associated with incidental catch.”

The project is important for Chile to be able to submit their report for NOAA’s comparability findings under the Import Provisions, but it’s also important for their own conservation goals. “Chile is committed to continuously improving how we manage our fisheries. They contribute significantly to our economy, and we want to ensure that fishers and local communities have access to the resource far into the future, as well as know we are properly protecting valuable marine life in the area,” says Dr. Montenegro. “A few years ago, I asked Dr. Sepúlveda and Dr. Hines to visit with IFOP and SUBPESCA to discuss research questions that can help fill knowledge gaps to improve management strategies by analyzing the data we already have and identifying the data we need.”

“The team is working diligently to pull data from various sources, which is no easy feat,” remarks Dr. Sepúlveda. “As a result of the cooperation between researchers and managers, we’ve been able to organize and evaluate a multitude of data sources. I think the collaboration and shared learning experiences across the many stakeholders is building a strong foundation for the future of Chilean fisheries management. We hope other countries can learn from the process as well.”

Resources for Decision Making

Reducing marine mammal bycatch is a challenge that requires the engagement of a diverse group of stakeholders. Both of the above efforts are contributing to the development of publicly available products that were not previously available.

To learn more:

• Project page: Marine Mammal Bycatch Working Group
• Project page: Marine Mammal Bycatch Risk Assessment in Chile
• Fact Sheet: Summary of Best Practices for Assessing and Managing Marine Mammal Bycatch