Impact

Globally, an estimated 1.1 million elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays), 720,000 seabirds, 300,000 seabirds and 250,000 marine turtles are caught unintentionally as bycatch in fishing gear every year. These large marine animals are particularly vulnerable because they grow slowly and reproduce infrequently, highlighting a strong need to implement safer fishing practices.

Fishing is a critically important source of livelihood for millions of people

When fishing is undertaken unsustainably, it can result in major threats to marine ecosystems, including bycatch, habitat destruction, greenhouse gas emissions and plastic pollution.

Our Goal

Dramatically reduce the accidental capture of some of the ocean’s most charismatic and rare animals in fishing gear. We have a deep knowledge of fisheries and the underlying causes of bycatch, and we have found ways to harness biological characteristics of each animal, helping them to avoid entanglement or taking a hook intended for a tuna.

HOW DO WE ACHIEVE THIS?

Through our partnerships with fishers, industry, and research institutions we continue to learn, adapt and make our devices better, cheaper, more robust and more integrated into operations. From individual fishers to large fishing organisations and marine operations, our goal is to help the fishing industry operate more selectively.  

We can help build a complete bycatch reduction strategy starting with fisher outreach and co-design, develop and implement bycatch solutions and put effective monitoring into place. 

EXPLORE OUR IMPACT

We work across multiple fisheries globally using a suite of technology targeted to cetaceans, turtles, sharks and seabirds.

Projects Map

Maximising Catch, Minimising Impact

Plastic Pollution

Shark Bycatch

Seabird Bycatch

Turtle Bycatch

Offshore Development

Cetacean Bycatch

Cetacean Depredation

Fish Discards

Uptake

Bycatch is the greatest threat to marine megafauna (such as whales, dolphins, turtles, sharks and seabirds) globally, and the scale of the problem in small-scale coastal fisheries may exceed industrialised fleets. It is costly to fishers and to society because it threatens biodiversity, ocean ecosystems and the viability of fisheries. 

Uptake of bycatch reduction technology comes either from fisheries being mandated to carry bycatch reduction devices or where there are requirements for certification from organisations such as the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).

At Fishtek Marine, we often find ourselves at the crossing point between fishers, conservation organisations, funders and seafood buyers. We are working with NGOs and funders to develop tools through which fishers can be helped and incentivised to adopt technology, meet bycatch reduction targets and to be compensated if necessary for foregone catches.

Large scale fisheries

National and international supermarkets sit at the top of global supply chains for seafood, and they often rely on international standards and certifying bodies to provide assurance of good practice for stock management and ensuring bycatch of Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species are minimised. The MSC play an important role in ensuring many important global fisheries meet targets for bycatch reduction. 

Small scale fisheries

There are an estimated 90 million fishers globally who operate small-scale vessels often for small economic returns or their own subsistence. It is unrealistic and unethical to expect small scale fishers to bear the costs of mitigating bycatch, and in many cases, catch of some animals may have food or economic value. Solving unwanted catch in small-scale fisheries remains a huge challenge because it requires long term support and incentives to help those fishers change practice or adopt a technology.

Public and political pressure

Fishing is now under increasing scrutiny from media, NGOs and consumers to improve sustainability of their practices, mitigate bycatch and reduce plastic pollution. New legislation and corporate governance drivers are only as effective as the political will, enforcement and budgets to enforce them. Fishers are reluctant to adopt any new measures likely to add time or cost to their operations and ensuring compliance with measures far from land is challenging.