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

非目标副渔获物或渔具附带渔获物是一个全球性问题，涉及海洋保护生物学家和渔民。大型脊椎动物纠缠造成大量死亡率，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，由于捕捞率高，这是近海商业渔民普遍选择的渔具。每年，北大西洋成千上万的海鸟被刺网淹死，在加拿大大西洋地区，纽芬兰广泛的刺网捕捞占了大部分海鸟的副渔获物，每年都有成千上万的海鸟（海雀、海雀、塘鹅、海鸥）被刺网淹死，这对种群数量产生了负面影响。随着北部鳕鱼刺网渔业在关闭25年后重新开放，现在是与商业渔民进行合作研究以解决不想要的副渔获物问题的好时机。这种发展和刺网捕鱼在整个北部海洋的主导地位使我们必须1)改进对副渔获物死亡率的估计，2)尽量减少渔具的破坏性，3)考虑其他捕鱼方法。目前的应用程序将渔业、生物学、行为和风险/效益调查和实验分析结合起来，测量和比较目标渔获物和非目标副渔获物，以测试关于海鸟、鱼类和使用不同渔具的渔民的行为和生态相互作用的假设。研究目标是用不同的渔具（表层刺网和深层刺网、手绳）填补关键的副渔获信息空白，用警告旗和灯修改渔具，操纵捕捞活动（设置和浸泡时间）在不影响目标渔获量的情况下减少副渔获量，比较不同渔具类型的副渔获量、渔获量和渔获质量，并评估渔民使用不同渔具类型的行为、风险和关注。研究目标将通过五个假设驱动的项目来实现，这些项目将填补关于副渔获物死亡率和缓解的关键信息空白，包括未经研究的鲱鱼刺网渔业。“发现”研究计划中提出的基础研究项目和应用研究项目的结合，将促成一项新的跨学科“现实世界”科学探究计划，从而在减少副渔获物、保护和可持续捕鱼做法方面引领前进的道路。对渔具改装、捕鱼活动、渔获质量、渔民行为、风险和态度的比较研究，以及外联参与，将为下一代环境科学家提供基于与商业渔民直接合作和船上实验的研究和分析专业知识。该计划确保成功的成就，基于证据的决策，解决冲突和未来的调查。

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.