WHAT IS BYCATCH and WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Fishers are experts at using gear that best fits their workplaces' conditions and the characteristics of the fish they want to catch.

However, sometimes non-target species accidentally swim into fishing gear and become trapped, often injured or die. Unfortunately, these animals are usually discarded because fishers do not want them, cannot sell them, or are not allowed to keep them.

Bycatch is a significant source of mortality worldwide for long-lived, protected species like seabirds, marine mammals, and sea turtles.

During their lifecycle, the extensive migrations of sea turtles between feeding and nesting areas often bring them in harm's way, where they become entangled or hooked in fisheries gear. When foraging, sea turtles tend to aggregate in highly productive regions, which also attract heavy fishing pressure. This overlapping presence of sea turtles and fishing gear results in a high bycatch risk. Sometimes, turtles are attracted to the fish bait found on longline hooks, thereby increasing, even more, their risk of being caught, entangled, or ingesting fishing gear (i.e., fishing hooks).

Entangled or hooked sea turtles often drown as they cannot reach the surface to breathe. Although turtles are accustomed to holding their breath for extended periods, the stress and struggle associated with gear interactions can significantly reduce the time they can be submerged. They eventually suffer fatal consequences from prolonged anoxia and seawater infiltration into their lungs.

Not only does bycatch negatively impact sea turtles, but it also negatively affects fishers. Large animals like turtles can damage fishing gear when entangled, which costs time and money as fishers must stay ashore to repair or replace their equipment.

Reducing bycatch can be a win-win for endangered sea turtles, fishers, and fishing communities.

Mexico is the sea turtle capital of the world, hosting six of the planet's seven species in its waters and along its beaches.

This project focuses on two of the most iconic of these species, the North Pacific loggerhead and the East Pacific leatherback turtle, protected via a Mexican presidential decree since 1990 (NOM 059). They are also listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the I.U.C.N. Red List of Threatened Species.

Like many places in the world, Mexico also has a high number of artisanal and industrial fishing fleets operating in its coastal and offshore waters. These national and international fishing fleets carry out legal and illegal fishing operations using drift and set-nets, longlines, and trawls, resulting in a high mortality rate from their bycatch.

As a result, both species have suffered significant population declines in recent decades, impacting foraging and the annual number of nesting female sea turtles, their respective nesting rookeries, and the populations in the region.

MarEs Comunidad focuses on working alongside artisanal (small-scale) fisheries to reduce bycatch in Mexico. Solutions are developed in collaboration with fishers and their communities to ensure that the new practices can be implemented successfully and adopted for the long term.

We focus on three approaches for developing the most effective and feasible measures to minimize sea turtle bycatch in Pacific Mexico.