How to avoid seabird bycatch in the Mediterranean
Wednesday, March 11, 2015 - 06:00
in Biology & Nature
Night setting; bird scaring lines; weighted branchlines that sink rapidly; covering fish offal and bait on board so it doesn't attract seabirds to the boats; deck lights kept at the minimum level, and discards not thrown back into the sea. These are some of the best strategies to avoid seabird bycatch in longline fisheries in the Mediterranean, according to the "Manual de buenas prácticas en la pesca de palangre de fondo," a good practice guide by Jacob González Solís and Vero Cortés, experts in the Department of Animal Biology of the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Biodiversity Research Institute (IRBio).