A study evaluates ocean characteristics that influence fisheries bycatch on the US west coast. The incidental catch of nontarget species, or bycatch, threatens ecological and economic sustainability in marine capture fisheries. Understanding the habitat requirements of target and nontarget species as well as the location and timing of bycatch events could help support sustainable fisheries. Kylie L. Scales and colleagues used mapping and modeling techniques to analyze the dynamic physical environment of the California Current System (CCS), a global marine biodiversity hotspot. The study incorporated data from 1990 to 2010 and accounted for multiple species, including fished species and protected marine megafauna, to evaluate how dynamic physical structures, such as mesoscale eddies and fronts, influenced fisheries bycatch in the CCS. Daily mapping of the CCS data indicated that areas associated with dynamic structures, which aggregate prey, predators, and fishers, increased the bycatch likelihood for a diverse range of species, including marine megafauna. Moreover, the analyses revealed an increased bycatch risk for protected species, including cetaceans and sea turtles. The findings suggest that real-time tracking of dynamic physical structures in the ocean might help reduce bycatch in fisheries, according to the authors.
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Article #18-01270: "Fisheries bycatch risk to marine megafauna is intensified in Lagrangian coherent structures," by Kylie L Scales et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Kylie L. Scales, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, AUSTRALIA; e-mail: kscales@usc.edu.au; Elliott Hazen, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center, Monterey, CA; tel: 831-658-3202; e-mail: elliott.hazen@noaa.gov
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences