Disentangling Fisheries By-catch: Re-thinking Seabird x Fish x Fisher Interactions

*渔具中的非目标副渔获物或附带渔获物是海洋养护生物学家和渔民共同关心的全球性问题。大型脊椎动物的缠绕导致大量死亡，这通常反映在种群水平上。对非目标动物最具破坏性的渔具是刺网，由于捕获率高，这是近岸商业渔民普遍选择的渔具。在北大西洋，每年有数十万只海鸟被刺网淹死，在大西洋加拿大，纽芬兰的大量刺网捕捞是大多数海鸟兼捕的原因，每年有数千只海鸟被淹死，对种群产生负面影响。*由于北部鳕鱼刺网渔业在关闭25年后重新开放，现在是与商业渔民合作研究解决不想要的副渔获物问题的时候了。这种发展和刺网捕鱼在整个北部海洋的主导地位使得1)提高对副渔获物死亡率的估计，2)尽量减少渔具的破坏性方面，3)考虑替代捕捞选择。本应用综合了渔业、生物、行为和风险/效益调查，并在测量和比较目标渔获量和非目标副渔获量的实验中进行分析，以检验关于海鸟、鱼类和渔民使用不同渔具的行为和生态相互作用的假设。研究目标是用不同的渔具[表层和深层刺网、手绳]填补关键的副渔获物信息空白，用警告标志和灯改装渔具，并操纵捕捞活动[设定和浸泡次数]，以最大限度地减少副渔获物而不影响目标渔获量，比较不同渔具类型的副渔获物、渔获量和渔获物质量，并评估渔民的行为、风险和对不同渔具类型的关注。研究目标将通过五个假设驱动的项目来实现，这些项目填补了关于副渔获物死亡和缓解的关键信息空白，包括未被研究的鲱鱼刺网渔业。*本发现研究计划中提出的基础研究项目和应用研究项目的整合将使一个新的跨学科的“真实世界”科学研究计划得以实现，该计划将引领副渔获物缓解、保护和可持续捕捞实践的前进方向。对渔具改装、捕捞活动、渔获物质量、渔民行为、风险和态度以及外展参与的比较研究将为下一代环境科学家提供基于与商业渔民的直接合作和船上试验的研究和分析专门知识。这一计划确保了成功的成就、基于证据的决策、冲突的解决和未来的调查。

***Non-target bycatch or incidental catch in fishing gear is a global problem that concerns marine conservation biologists and fishers alike. Large vertebrate entanglements impose substantial mortality often reflected at population levels. The most destructive fishing gear to non-target animals is the gillnet, the ubiquitous gear of choice by inshore commercial fishers owing to high catch rates. Each year, hundreds of thousands seabird are drown in gillnets in the North Atlantic, and in Atlantic Canada extensive gillnet fishing in Newfoundland accounts for most seabird bycatch drowning thousands of seabirds [murres, puffins, gannets, shearwaters] on an ongoing annual basis with negative population effects. ******As the northern cod gillnet fishery is re-opening after 25 years of closure, it is opportune time for collaborative research with commercial fishers to address unwanted by-catch problems. This development and the dominance of gillnet fishing throughout northern oceans make it imperative to 1) improve estimates of bycatch mortality, 2) minimize the gear's destructive aspects and 3) consider alternative fishing options. The present application integrates fishery, biological, behavioral and risk/benefit investigations and analyses in experiments that measure and compare target catch and non-target bycatch to test hypotheses about the behavioral and ecological interactions of seabirds, fishes and fishers with different fishing gears. Research objectives are to fill critical bycatch information gaps with different gears [surface and deep-set gillnets, hand-lines], to modify gear with warning flags and lights and manipulate fishing activity [set and soak times] to minimize bycatch without impacting target catch, to compare bycatch, catch and catch quality among gear types, and to assess fishers' behavior, risk and concerns with different gear types. Research objectives will be achieved through five hypothesis-driven projects that fill critical information gaps about bycatch mortality and mitigation, including the unstudied herring gillnet fishery.******The integration of the basic and applied research projects proposed in this Discovery research program will enable a novel interdisciplinary “real world” program of scientific inquiry that will lead the way forward on bycatch mitigation, conservation and sustainable fishing practices. Comparative studies of fishing gear modifications, fishing activity, catch quality, fisher behavior, risk and attitudes, and outreach engagement will provide the next generation of environmental scientists with research and analytical expertise grounded in direct collaboration and onboard experiment with commercial fishers. This program assures successful achievement, evidence-based decision-making, conflict resolution, and future inquiry.