In the

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

business, a bycatch reduction device is a tool designed to minimize unintended capture (or

bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...

) of marine animals, thus reducing the adverse effects of fishing on the

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

Development

To minimize accidental capture of marine animals, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries developed and tested bycatch reduction devices (BRDs). These devices are openings in shrimp trawl nets that allow finfish or other unwanted aquatic animals to escape, while the target species, such as

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...

, is directed towards the tail bag or cod end of the net. The placement and design have been developed in conjunction with normal

bottom trawling Bottom trawling is trawling (towing a trawl, which is a fishing net) along the seafloor. It is also referred to as "dragging". The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling. Benthic trawling is towin ...

practices, using trawl nets outfitted with a

turtle excluder device A turtle excluder device (TED) is a specialized device that allows a captured sea turtle to escape when caught in a fisherman's net. In particular, sea turtles can be caught when bottom trawling is used by the commercial shrimp fishing indus ...

. BRDs are required in shrimp trawl nets working in the federal waters of the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

and

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

regions.

Legal imperative

Officially, National Standard 9 was added to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1996 to address the need to control the magnitude of bycatching. The standard mandates minimizing bycatch to the extent practicable and minimizing mortality of unavoidable bycatch. Congress increased requirements to protect this harvest in the

Marine Mammal Protection Act The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was the first act of the United States Congress to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management. Authority MMPA was signed into law on October 21, 1972, by President Richard Nixon ...

and the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of ec ...

. In response to these mandates, NOAA Fisheries (National Marine Fisheries Service) developed an ongoing by-catch plan and published Amendment 10Shrimp Fishery Management Plan
/ref> to the Fisheries Management Plan of the Gulf of Mexico Fisheries Management Council. In conjunction with the plan, NOAA fisheries and other agencies collect data in order to monitor the extent and type of bycatch in all U.S. fishery regions. The associated research plan for the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic fisheries is available online. A portion of the

Sea Grant The National Sea Grant College Program is a program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is a national network of 34 university-based Sea Grant programs involved in scientific re ...

website is dedicated to providing information and an archive of articles about the conservation efforts of commercial shrimpers associated with the use of BRDs in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic regions.

Research

Between 1990 and 1996, research in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic shrimp trawl fisheries examined the proportions of catch and bycatch by weight. The data indicated that catches in the Gulf consisted of about 67 percent finned fish, 16 percent commercial shrimp, 13 percent non-commercial shrimp, and 4 percent other invertebrates. In the South Atlantic, the catch averaged 51 percent finned fish, 18 percent commercial shrimp, 13 percent non-commercial shrimp and crustaceans, and 18 percent non-crustacean invertebrates (by weight). After insertion of various types of BRDs in the shrimp trawl nets, significant reductions were noted for

Spanish mackerel Scomberomorini is a tribe of ray-finned saltwater bony fishes that is commonly known as the Spanish mackerels, seerfishes or seer fish. This fish closely resembles the King Mackerel. This tribe is a subset of the mackerel family (Scombridae) � ...

weakfish The weakfish, ''Cynoscion regalis'', is a marine fish of the drum family Sciaenidae. A medium-large, slender, marine fish, it is found along the east coast of North America. The head and back of this fish are dark brown in color with a greenish t ...

croakers Sciaenidae are a family of fish in the order Acanthuriformes. They are commonly called drums or croakers in reference to the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make. The family consists of about 286 to 298 species in about 66 to 70 gene ...

and

spot Spot or SPOT may refer to: Places * Spot, North Carolina, a community in the United States * The Spot, New South Wales, a locality in Sydney, Australia * South Pole Traverse, sometimes called the South Pole Overland Traverse People * Spot (prod ...

in the South Atlantic region and for Atlantic croakers,

king mackerel The king mackerel (''Scomberomorus cavalla'') or kingfish, is a migratory species of mackerel of the western Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. It is an important species to both the commercial and recreational fishing industries. Description T ...

, Spanish mackerel and

red snapper Red snapper is a common name of several fish species. It may refer to: * Several species from the genus ''Lutjanus'': ** ''Lutjanus campechanus'', Northern red snapper, commonly referred to as red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico and western Atlanti ...

in the Gulf region. Red snapper conservation is one of the primary reasons for interest in BRDs by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council. During 1997 and 1998, trawls in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic regions were required to insert and use a BRD in their nets. This device is installed in the cod end of a shrimp trawl for the purpose of excluding finfish from the net. Since then, NOAA fisheries have certified three types of BRDs for use in the Gulf of Mexico region: the Gulf Fisheye, the Jones-Davis, and the Fisheye BRDs; and five for the south Atlantic region: the Extended Funnel, Expanded Mesh, Fisheye, Gulf Fisheye and Jones-Davis BRDs. According to research conducted during 2003-2004, the Extended Funnel BRD and an Expanded Mesh BRD were found to be successful in the South Atlantic, while the 12” by 5” Fisheye BRD was considered successful in both South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters. These conclusions are subject to continuing research.

References

External links

* *{{cite web, url=http://www.fao.org/fishery/equipment/brd/en, title=Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRD), publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Environmental impact of fishing