Bycatch is the unwanted or non-target part of the catch taken by fishermen. It is either discarded at sea or used for human or animal consumption. The capture of bycatch may pose a threat to species diversity and ecosystem health because this part of the catch is usually unregulated. In tropical shrimp-trawl fisheries, bycatch often consists of juvenile food-fish species and is therefore a threat to food security and sustainable fisheries production. Bycatch is a global problem that must be addressed. This Guide to Bycatch Reduction in Tropical Shrimp-Trawl Fisheries is designed for fishermen, net makers, fishing technologists and others interested in a practical guide to the design, use and operation of effective bycatch reduction devices. Fishery managers, policy-makers and legislators will find this guide useful to help develop specifications governing the design and application of these devices in a shrimptrawl fishery. The issue of bycatch is not going away and scrutiny of fishing activity is increasing. All fishermen are strongly urged to use appropriate bycatch reduction measures to help maintain the productivity of the fishery and the long term prosperity of the fishing industry. By responding appropriately, fishermen can help to protect the marine environment and assist global food security both now and in the future. Also published in French and Spanish.

This technical report describes efforts to mitigate bycatch through gear modifications and adaptations in the tropical shrimp-trawl fisheries of over 30 countries. It provides a summary of efforts by each country and then synthesizes them to identify and describe best practice. A best practice in bycatch reduction is the application or adoption of appropriate, recognized approaches to modifying fishing gear, with the objective of reducing bycatch to the greatest extent practicable. This information serves as a benchmark to identify countries that are taking appropriate steps to reduce bycatch and those that are not. It also provides context from which the outcomes of research on bycatch reduction can be evaluated and compared, including the identification of effective bycatch reduction devices, and serves to identify future research priorities. In the context of this report, best practice includes the installation and use of TEDs and BRDs that are optimally rigged and operated so as to reduce bycatch. It also includes the application of appropriate regulations to ensure effective performance, as well as the introduction of effective outreach and extension programmes to enhance and sustain best practice to reduce bycatch.

This publication gives an updated review of the quantity of discards in the world's marine fisheries, using information from a broad range of fisheries in all continents. A number of policy issues are discussed including a 'no discards' approach to fisheries management, the need for balance between bycatch reduction and bycatch utilisation initiatives, and concerns arising from incidental catches of marine mammals, birds and reptiles. The report also highlights the need for more robust methods of estimating discards, and the development of bycatch management plans.

Potentially harmful contact between fisheries and marine vulnerable species represents a global conservation issue and efforts to mitigate the negative repercussions of these interactions belong in strategies for ensuring the sustainability of fisheries. This literature review offers a survey of mitigation measures and techniques that have been developed and tested around the world, aiming to address both the incidental catch of highly mobile species – specifically, cetaceans, seabirds, sharks and rays, and sea turtles – and depredation caused by dolphins. Based on research detailed in over 300 documents, including peer-reviewed publications, reports from international organizations and papers available on the internet, most of the mitigation techniques illustrated are still under development, with only a few already adopted through legislation. The selected mitigation measures are grouped by main types of fishing gear – gillnets and trammel nets, longlines and lines, trawls, purse seines, traps and pots – and further subdivided according to which of the four main groups of vulnerable species – cetaceans, seabirds, sharks and rays, or sea turtles – they are designed to protect. Preventive and curative approaches covering both technical measures (gear modifications, strategies, as well as acoustic, visual, magnetic and chemosensory deterrents) and management measures are described.

Australia’s experience in community-based environmental repair is unique in the world, with no shortage of analysis by bureaucrats, academics and environmentalists. This collection of 17 case studies gives a view from ground level. It includes heroic accounts of families who changed their way of farming and their relationship to the land so significantly they found they could stop hand-feeding stock during a drought and see the bush coming back. It describes the experience with ‘bush tenders’, which were oversubscribed, as farmers competed with each other for stewardship payments to manage their grazing lands for endangered ground-nesting birds as well as beef and wool. And it tells of a group of wheat growers who plant patches of grassland for beneficial insects that save them tens of thousands of dollars a year in pesticide bills. The case studies arose from a meeting of 250 farmers, foresters and fishers from all Australian states, who met in Launceston as guests of the community group Tamar Natural Resource Management to reflect on the question: ‘Is it possible to be good environmental managers and prosper in our businesses?’ As well as tales of environmental hope, there are also messages about the limits of duty of care, the need to share the costs of achieving society’s expectations, and the possibility of learning from unlikely places. Biodiversity: Integrating Conservation and Production includes the seven ‘Tamar Principles’, distilled by the delegates from the meeting for those on the front line.

In recent years there have been notable advances in the fisheries. Progresses made in refinements of vessels, new line materials and line-handling systems, preserving the catch, the availability of oceanographic-sensor equipments and the utilization of satellite technology to locate potential fishing grounds have greatly improved the fishing power of longline vessels. Post harvest technology of fish has evolved in the last one decade to a more energy-efficient, cost-effective, and quality upgrading technology. Since fresh fish can get spoiled very quickly, the development of technology for post-harvest preservation and methodology to convert fish to value added products have also become popular in recent times. Value addition helps in getting high price for the fishery products. There is a need to develop competent human resources in the field of post harvest management of fish and production of value added products from them. It is required to inculcate vocational and entrepreneurial skills in order to widen employment opportunities, particularly among rural youth and the disadvantaged sections of the society as well as to enable self employment.