Novel tools to reduce seabird bycatch in coastal gillnet fisheries

Published source details Melvin E.F., Parrish J.K. & Conquest L.L. (1999) Novel tools to reduce seabird bycatch in coastal gillnet fisheries. Conservation Biology, 13, 1386-1397.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Use acoustic alerts on gillnets to reduce seabird bycatch Action Link
	Use high-visibility mesh on gillnets to reduce seabird bycatch Action Link

Use acoustic alerts on gillnets to reduce seabird bycatch

A repeated, randomised and controlled trial in a drift gillnet fishery in North Puget Sound, Washington, USA, in July and August 1996 (Melvin et al. 1999), found that nets fitted with acoustic alerts (‘pingers’) caught significantly fewer common guillemots (common murres) Uria aalge than control nets (0.31 vs. 0.60 entanglements/net). There was no significant change in the number of rhinoceros auklets Cerorhinca monocerata caught. A total of eight boats and 321 net sets were studied.
Use high-visibility mesh on gillnets to reduce seabird bycatch

A repeated, randomised and controlled trial in a drift gillnet fishery in North Puget Sound, Washington, USA, in July- August 1996 (Melvin et al. 1999), found that nets fitted with highly visible mesh in the top 25% caught significantly fewer common guillemots (common murres) Uria aalge and rhinoceros auklets Cerorhinca monocerata than control nets (guillemots: 0.37 vs. 0.6 entanglements/net; auklets: approximately 0.05 vs. 0.2 entanglements/net). Nets fitted with highly visible mesh in the top 10% caught significantly fewer guillemots than controls (0.32 vs. 0.6 entanglements/net), but there was no significant change in the number of auklets caught. Nets with 25% high visibility mesh also caught significantly fewer sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka, the target species, compared to controls (10 vs. 36 entanglements/net). A total of eight boats and 482 net sets were studied.