Challenges to incentivizing avoidance of unwanted catch

The cartoon graphically and effectively illustrates and promotes the recently completed Themed Set in the ICES Journal of Marine Science on Challenges to incentivizing avoidance of unwanted catch. The cartoon, alongside a pretty good summary of the findings, also appears at the ICES website.

The 18 open-access articles in the Set (plus an Introduction) cover three major topics including a range of human behavioural models to understand motivations and incentives in use of selective gears by fishers and others, challenges to cooperative spatio-temporal avoidance of bycatch, and other relevant technical or other measures to reduce bycatch.

The set includes possibly the last publication by Sarah Kraak. Credit is due to her for initiating the Themed Set and acting as its major driving force before her tragic death in early 2022. To those of you who knew her, I hope you find that she is appropriately acknowledged and recognized in the Set.

My involvement in these questions of uptake of proven fishing gears grew out of a Topic Group at WGFTFB, Steve Eayrs having overcome my resistance to participating. That’s a pretty strong example of the relevance and impact of WGFTFB’s activities and of the value of our collective experience and wisdom.

I hope you find the Set useful. There is still a lot to be learned on the subject!

Mike Pol, Ph.D

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