Thumbnail Image

Joint Analysis of Sea Turtle Mitigation Effectiveness. Final Report

Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 16-19 February 2016 & 3-8 November 2016

Year of publication 2016

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 140 p.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Meeting

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) In response to the problem of unwanted bycatch, tuna fisheries have adopted a number of measures to mitigate threats to bycatch species. However, in many cases the degree to which interactions and mortalities are expected to be reduced as a result of these measures, and are actually reduced, remains unknown. This is at least partially because studies of the effectiveness of mitigation options often lack statistical power due to small sample sizes and/or represent only a small subset of fishing operations. To overcome these shortcomings, integrated analysis of combined datasets representing different fisheries, locations, and operational variables can be used to assess the effectiveness of various mitigation strategies. Although sea turtles interact with both purse seine and longline fisheries, a recent ecological risk assessment conducted for the Atlantic suggested that overall mortality from purse seine fisheries is inconsequential compared to longline fisheries (Angel et al. 2014)1. This is likely due to the fact that as predators sea turtles are attracted to baited hooks, and there is a higher chance of asphyxiation in longline fisheries particularly when turtles become hooked and can’t reach the surface to breathe. The only tuna RFMO to adopt a conservation and management measure (CMM) that requires specific changes in fishing practices (i.e. beyond safe release) is the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (Clarke et al. 2014). The WCPFC’s CMM (2008 -03) applies to fleets fishing in a shallow-set manner for swordfish, and each member or cooperating non-member is authorized to formulate its own definition of “shallow-set”. Such shallow-set swordfish fleets are required to either i) use large circle hooks with offsets of ≤10o; ii) use whole finfish for bait; iii) apply an alternative measure approved by the WCPFC’s Scientific Committee (SC); or iv) be granted an exemption by the WCPFC SC on the basis of minimal interactions. Workshop Ar rangements A series of two four-day workshops designed to conduct a joint-analysis of the effectiveness of sea turtle mitigation in Pacific longline fisheries were held in Honolulu, Hawaii in February and November 2016. These workshops were convened by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) with funding provided by the ABNJ (Common Oceans) Tuna project, and were attended by 38 participants from 16 countries with expertise in all three oceans, as well as invited IGOs and NG Os. Utilizing confidentially-held fishery observer data from Pacific Community (SPC) member countries, as well as data accessed under special confidentiality arrangements with Chinese Taipei, Japan and Reunion, SPC compiled a dataset representing over 2,300 turtles caught by 34 fleets across the Pacific between 1989-2015. Data were securely maintained and processed in real time during the workshops by two SPC analysts. As data access permissions expired at the close of the second workshop all results needed to be produced, discussed, agreed and documented in session.

Language English

Also available in:
No results found.

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
    Report of the Expert Consultation on Interactions between Sea Turtles and Fisheries within an Ecosystem Context. Rome, Italy, 9-12 March 2004 2004
    Also available in:
    An Expert Consultation on Interactions between Sea Turtles and Fisheries within an Ecosystem Context was convened by FAO and held in Rome, Italy, from 9 to 12 March 2004. The meeting was attended by 11 experts from seven countries, covering expertise related to sea turtle biology and conservation, fishing gear technology, fisheries management and socio-economics. The Expert Consultation was organized to provide technical input to the Technical Consultation to take place in Bangkok, Thailand, lat er in 2004, as agreed at the Twenty-fifth Session of the Committee on Fisheries, held in Rome, Italy, from 24 to 28 February 2003. This information paper provides a summary of the Consultation’s outcomes and outputs, including overviews of sea turtle status, fisheries impacts, possible managerial solutions, socio-economic aspects and recommendations for future work and actions.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (stand-alone)
    Guidelines to reduce sea turtle mortality in fishing operations. 2009
    Also available in:
    Sea turtles are affected by a range of different factors, some natural and others caused by human activities, including fishing operations. As a result, all sea turtle species whose conservation status has been assessed are considered to be threatened or endangered. These guidelines provide assistance for the preparation of national or multilateral fisheries management measures and industry initiatives that may help to conserve sea turtles by reducing the negative impacts that fisher ies may have on them. The guidelines are voluntary and nonbinding. Their scope is global, but when they are implemented, national and regional diversity, including cultural and socio-economic differences, should be taken into account. These guidelines present our best understanding of how to reduce interactions between sea turtles and fishing gear and reduce the proportion of caught turtles that are killed as a result of interactions with marine capture fisheries. They include inform ation about how to change fishing gear and fishing methods and how the fishing industry can adopt voluntary approaches to reduce sea turtle mortality. The guidelines make suggestions about implementing management actions, such as input and output controls and bycatch fees and they cover subjects such as bycatch hotspot avoidance, best practices for the handling and release of caught turtles and reducing derelict fishing gear and other marine debris. They also identify fisheries and a reas where fishing may be a relatively important cause of sea turtle deaths. Research, monitoring, information exchange, capacity-building, financial support, socio-economic, cultural and legal aspects are also discussed.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Book (series)
    Status of Interactions of Pacific Tuna Fisheries in 1995
    Proceeding of the Second FAO Expert Consultation on Interactions of Pacific Tuna Fisheries Shimizu, Japan 23 to 31 January 1995
    1996
    Also available in:
    No results found.
    This publication includes forty papers and two abstracts of papers presented at the Second FAO Expert Consultation on Pacific Tuna Fisheries held in Shimizu, Japan, from 23 to 31 January 1995. The topics of the papers include: · reviews of tuna fisheries interactions and their research including methods for their study, · new methods for studying tuna fisheries interactions and examination of their applicability, · case studies on tuna fisheries interactions, · analyses of tuna fisheri es involved in interactions and their management, and · an overview of FAO’s project that co-organized and co-sponsored the Consultation. A supplement of an indexed bibliography of papers on tuna and billfish tagging, which was printed separately, is also included. The objectives of the Consultation were to: · review and integrate the outcome of the studies on tuna fisheries interactions, · summarize the extent of tuna fisheries interactions and unresolved research problems, and · fo rmulate guidelines for research on tuna fisheries interactions. The understanding of tuna fisheries interactions was enhanced significantly by recent studies. However, the Consultation noted that the number of quantified interactions is still small due primarily to difficulties associated with evaluating such interactions. The papers providing supporting information for the conclusions of the Consultation are presented in this publication. Interactions were found to vary in significance depend ing on the biological characteristics of the species involved, the sizes of fish caught, the local and stock-wide rates of exploitation, and the distance among fisheries. In many of the studies presented, the inadequacy of fisheries data was stressed. In addition, the lack of understanding of movements of the fish being studied was noted in several papers. General qualitative guidelines presented in several discussion papers stressed that specifically-designed studies be undertaken to adequately quantify interactions. Well-designed tagging experiments were thought to provide the most reliable information about interactions. Guidelines for the collection of data, biological and ecosystem research, modelling, and alternative methodologies for studying tuna fisheries interactions are also included.
Show more

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.