NOAA Fisheries National Bycatch Reduction Strategy

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National Bycatch Reduction Strategy | NOAA Fisheries

National Bycatch Reduction Strategy
The National Bycatch Reduction Strategy, developed in collaboration with partners,
includes objectives and actions that build on past successes and guide NOAA Fisheries’
efforts to reduce bycatch and bycatch mortality.

Introduction
The United States is a global leader in sustainable fisheries management and protected species
conservation. NOAA Fisheries’ core mission is to promote productive and sustainable fisheries and
conserve and recover protected species—all backed by sound science and an ecosystem-based
approach to management. NOAA Fisheries recognizes that some level of bycatch is inherent in
fishing operations. With that acknowledgment, the goal of the 2016 National Bycatch Reduction
Strategy is to guide and coordinate NOAA Fisheries’ efforts to reduce bycatch and bycatch
mortality in support of sustainably managing fisheries and recovering and conserving
protected species. This 2016 Strategy builds on past and ongoing efforts to reduce bycatch.
Implementation of this Strategy will occur at the regional, national, and international levels.
NOAA Fisheries headquarters’ offices, regional offices, and science centers, in coordination with our
partners and stakeholders, will develop implementation plans in 2017.

What is Bycatch?
NOAA Fisheries manages bycatch and its impacts through several authorities, including the
Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), the Marine Mammal
Protection Act (MMPA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and other domestic laws and
international agreements. Each of these authorities defines bycatch differently. For the purposes of
this Strategy, bycatch means discarded catch of marine species and unobserved mortality
due to a direct encounter with fishing vessels and gear. While this document refers to bycatch
very broadly, NOAA Fisheries recognizes that the development and implementation of specific
measures to address bycatch will occur in accordance with the appropriate statutory definitions and
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authorities. Managers must balance the need to optimize the yield from fisheries with the need to
minimize bycatch and adverse impacts to populations and species.
Under the MSA, bycatch is defined as fish[1] that are harvested in a fishery, but that are not sold or
kept for personal use, and includes both economic and regulatory discards. Economic discards are
fish that are discarded because they are of undesirable size, sex, or quality, or for other economic
reasons. Regulatory discards are fish that are caught but discarded because regulations do not
allow fishermen to retain the fish; for example, fishermen may be required to discard fish under a
certain size or of a specific species for conservation reasons.
The MSA requires that bycatch and bycatch mortality be minimized to the extent practicable. While
fish released alive under a recreational catch and release fishery management program are exempt
from the MSA’s definition of, and requirements for, bycatch, the MSA does require that, to the extent
practicable, the mortality of released fish be minimized to ensure the extended survival of such fish.
For species protected under the ESA and MMPA, bycatch is a type of “take.” The ESA and MMPA
have different definitions of take; however, in general, take includes any of the following actions:
capturing, collecting, harming, harassing, hunting, killing, pursuing, shooting, trapping, or wounding
any species protected by the MMPA or the ESA, or attempting to engage in any such conduct. While
“take” is generally prohibited for species protected under the MMPA and ESA, there are some
exceptions under both laws. For example, the MMPA includes a program to authorize and
manage the taking of marine mammals incidental to commercial fishing operations.

Statutory Bycatch Provisions
Magnuson-Stevens Act
Promotes sustainable domestic fisheries conservation and management based on sound
science and effective enforcement.
Requires that conservation and management measures shall, to the extent practicable,
minimize bycatch, and to the extent bycatch cannot be avoided, minimize the mortality of
such bycatch.

Marine Mammal Protection Act
Establishes a national policy to prevent marine mammal stocks from declining beyond the
point where they cease to be a significant element in the ecosystem in which they are a
part.
Prohibits—with certain exceptions—the “take” of marine mammals.
Directs commercial fisheries to reduce incidental mortality/serious injury of marine
mammals to insignificant levels.

Endangered Species Act
Provides for the conservation and recovery of species that are endangered or threatened
throughout all or a significant portion of their range, and the conservation of the ecosystems
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on which they depend.
Prohibits—with certain exceptions—the “take” of those species[1] or the destruction or
adverse modification of critical habitat designated for those species.
Requires all federal agencies to ensure that any action they authorize, fund, or carry out
(e.g., federal fisheries not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of a listed species.
Requires recovery plans for listed species that identify the priority actions to conserve and
recover the species, which may include bycatch reduction measures as appropriate.

Why Can Bycatch be a Problem?
Some level of bycatch is inherent in fishing operations. Impacts from bycatch and bycatch mortality
vary across fisheries, and can, in some cases, have adverse biological, economic, and social
consequences. Bycatch can negatively affect protected species by harming individuals, contributing
to population declines, and impeding population recovery. Similarly, bycatch of fish can contribute to
overfishing and impede efforts to rebuild fish stocks, or have negative economic and social impacts
to fishermen and communities that rely on the economic benefits from a fishery or fish for food.
Bycatch can also have ecological impacts by altering the availability of predators and prey that affect
marine ecosystems and fishery productivity. Further, bycatch of habitat-forming benthic species like
corals and sponges can damage important habitats for fish and other species. Working with partners
and stakeholders, NOAA Fisheries has made significant advancements to improve the selectivity of
fishing gear and modify fishing practices to reduce bycatch. However, bycatch still occurs because
numerous species often inhabit the same productive areas of the ocean.

What is NOAA Fisheries
Doing About Bycatch?
NOAA Fisheries has a long, productive
history of working with partners, including
the regional fishery management councils,
Take Reduction Teams, the fishing industry,
states and interstate marine fisheries
commissions, academic groups,
environmental organizations, international
partners, and others to better understand
bycatch; to develop new tools and
approaches for reducing, estimating, and reporting bycatch; and to successfully implement
management measures.
In 1998, NOAA Fisheries developed a report which evaluated NOAA Fisheries’ bycatch reduction
efforts by region and identified national-level recommendations to further enhance bycatch
reduction. In 2003, NOAA Fisheries developed our first National Bycatch Strategy, which identified
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concrete actions to reduce bycatch. This 2016 National Bycatch Reduction Strategy builds on the
2003 strategy and works to enhance the effectiveness of current programs—both domestically and
internationally—while reflecting today’s challenges, laws, regulations, and policies.
NOAA Fisheries is committed to continuing to reduce and minimize bycatch now and into the future,
where it is problematic or required by the MMPA and ESA. For the purposes of this Strategy,
reducing bycatch includes efforts to minimize the amount of bycatch, as well as minimize the
mortality, serious injury, and adverse impacts of bycatch that do occur. In addition, reducing bycatch
can also include actions that increase utilization of fish that would otherwise be economic discards.

Using Bycatch
This strategy seeks to support actions that increase utilization of fish that would otherwise become
economic discards, taking into account conservation and management requirements.
Finding ways to use legal catch that would otherwise be discarded for economic reasons can help
reduce the magnitude of bycatch and provide economic benefit to the fishing industry.
Increased utilization involves finding incentives and developing markets to help reduce economic
discards and increase the portion of the catch that is landed and sold. 
NOAA Fisheries already supports increased utilization in some fisheries. For example, NOAA
Fisheries’ 2017 Saltonstall Kennedy Grant Program includes the following funding priority: “Support
development of new products from and markets for seafood processing waste and low value
species.”

National Bycatch Reduction Objectives & Actions
This National Bycatch Reduction Strategy sets national-level objectives and actions for all of NOAA
Fisheries’ bycatch reduction programs across our science and management enterprise so we are
better able to fulfill our statutory obligations. National and regional implementation plans will be
developed in coordination with our partners. Due to the different bycatch issues across NOAA
Fisheries’ regions and programs, the national-level objectives and actions presented in this
document will be applied to the specific priorities and needs of each region and its fisheries through
the implementation plans.
The objectives and actions presented below are designed to align ongoing and future regional,
national, and international bycatch-related efforts with our overall goal of reducing bycatch and
bycatch mortality.
The five objectives outlined below support the goal of this Strategy, to guide and coordinate NOAA
Fisheries’ efforts to reduce bycatch and bycatch mortality in support of sustainably
managing fisheries and recovering and conserving protected species.

Strategy Objectives
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Monitor and estimate the rates of bycatch and bycatch mortality in fisheries to understand
the level of impact and the nature of the interaction.
Conduct research to improve our bycatch estimates, understand the impacts of bycatch on
species and community dynamics, and develop solutions to reduce bycatch and bycatch
mortality.
Conserve and manage fisheries and protected species by implementing measures to
reduce bycatch and its adverse impacts.
Enforce fishery management measures, including those aimed at reducing bycatch and
bycatch mortality, to ensure compliance with applicable laws.
Communicate to develop a common understanding of bycatch, to share information on our
efforts to address bycatch, and to identify areas where we can improve.
This Strategy provides a framework for how these objectives work together across our programs to
support bycatch reduction efforts. We are most effective in achieving our goal when we coordinate
across our programs within NOAA Fisheries and with our partners and stakeholders.
Cross-cutting and embedded within these objectives is an explicit recognition of the need to
regularly evaluate our programs to ensure we are achieving objectives, learning from our
experiences, and then continually improving based on new information. We evaluate the
effectiveness of our science and management programs to determine whether programs achieve
stated goals and identify needed improvements. As new science and management approaches for
bycatch are considered, and ongoing programs are evaluated, we will work to promote the most
effective solutions. When appropriate, we will revise programs to better meet conservation and
management goals.

Monitor & Estimate
NOAA Fisheries monitors and estimates the
amount and type of bycatch and bycatch
mortality in fisheries to understand the
effects of bycatch on fisheries and the
related ecosystem. These data inform
efforts to minimize bycatch and help
managers to monitor the effectiveness of
their conservation actions. With this
objective, we seek to strengthen monitoring
programs by using existing data collection
methods (e.g., logbooks and observers). We
will develop and invest in new data
collection techniques (e.g., electronic
technologies), and improve our estimation
methods.
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Actions
Evaluate bycatch data collection programs comprehensively (e.g. observer programs,
electronic monitoring programs) to identify data gaps, program improvements, and
implement changes, as appropriate.
Review the data and analyses presented in the National Bycatch Report to ensure that the
report informs national bycatch policy and understanding of national bycatch trends, and
provide clarification where methodologies in the National Bycatch Report differ from those
used in stock assessments.
Review and update, as necessary, existing guidance for estimating bycatch of all species,
domestically and internationally, to ensure that it reflects the best scientific information
available including that collected from electronic technologies, where appropriate.
Improve estimates of post-release mortality of fish through the implementation of the Action
Plan for Fish Release Mortality Science.
Improve estimates of post-interaction mortality through better collection of relevant data for
protected species (e.g., marine mammals, sea turtles, ESA listed fish, corals and seabirds).
Assess methods to account for total catch, including discards, in all fisheries.
Implement Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology requirements.
Foster and strengthen state, federal, and international partnerships to facilitate data sharing
and collaboration.
Advocate for improved data collection and compliance with data reporting requirements
within the regional fisheries management organizations and intergovernmental agreements.

Research & Develop
NOAA Fisheries conducts and supports research to improve assessments of bycatch on population
and ecosystem dynamics, to modify fishing gear and operations to reduce bycatch, and to
understand the socioeconomic effects of bycatch. We are committed to supporting innovative
research that reduces bycatch and increases survival of discarded or released fish and released
protected species, through gear technology, bycatch avoidance programs, and increased utilization
of economic discards. This research enables us to develop tools that can help us further minimize
bycatch and its impacts.
Actions
Identify and publicize priorities for national and regional research to reduce bycatch and its
impacts.
Encourage and promote the engineering, design, development and implementation of
improved underwater electronic technologies to better understand bycatch and how to
reduce it.
Improve understanding of the economic and other social factors contributing to bycatch,
and identify regulatory and market incentives that increase might utilization of economic
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discards.
Assess how technology is developed and adopted in fisheries and how technological
advances can affect bycatch reduction, including improvements in post-release mortality.
Support regional, national, and international conservation engineering programs through
coordination and collaboration across NOAA Fisheries’ bycatch reduction programs,
particularly the Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program, Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant
Program, and Cooperative Research Program.
Review the effectiveness of NOAA Fisheries conservation engineering programs, and make
improvements where necessary.

Conserve & Manage
NOAA Fisheries works closely with partners to develop and implement targeted conservation and
management measures that reduce bycatch and the impacts of bycatch through a variety of
mechanisms, including best practices, national and regional guidance, improved decision-making
tools, policies, and regulations. We will continue to make decisions based on the best available
science and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. In addition, we will work to promote
actions that reduce bycatch by more effectively utilizing fish that would have otherwise been
economic discards.
Actions
Work with the regional fishery management councils, fishing industry, academics, states,
environmental organizations and other key stakeholders to develop, implement, and
promote bycatch reduction measures that support conservation and management
objectives outlined in the MSA, MMPA, and ESA.
Assist states in the development of protected species conservation plans and encourage
states to apply for Incidental Take Permits for state managed fisheries that interact with
ESA-listed species.
Use bycatch monitoring data to better target management measures to reduce bycatch and
adverse impacts to habitat caused by fishing, and to monitor the effectiveness of such
measures.
Identify areas of high bycatch of deep-sea corals or sponges and work with councils and the
fishing industry to close these areas to high-bycatch gears as called for in NOAA’s Strategic
Plan for Deep-Sea Coral and Sponge Ecosystems.
Examine the potential for increased utilization of economic discards and develop best
practices to encourage their use where bycatch has potential economic value, taking into
account conservation and management requirements.
Continue efforts to reduce regulatory discards and discard mortality through development of
appropriate management measures and implementation of more selective gear.
Analyze the effectiveness of incentive-based approaches to environmental management,
(e.g., catch shares, risk pools, cooperatives, dynamic area management), and consider
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their application to bycatch reduction programs.
Improve understanding of the socio-economic, and other environmental trade-offs of
bycatch reduction to better inform stakeholders and to support management decisions and
analyses.
Conduct analyses of the effectiveness of measures to reduce bycatch and bycatch mortality
(e.g., circle hooks, turtle excluder devices, and “hot spot” area closures, and gear
modifications), and modify these measures to improve their success.
Advance bycatch reduction actions in international forums, regional fisheries management
organizations, and multilateral environmental agreements.
Ensure the implementation of the MMPA imports rule to evaluate the effectiveness of
bycatch reduction measures for countries exporting seafood to the United States.

Enforce
NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Law Enforcement works closely with fishery and protected species
managers to develop clear and enforceable regulations. We will continue to work with state, federal,
and international partners to improve compliance with all applicable laws, reach out to fishermen
about the importance of regulations to reduce bycatch, and conduct enforcement that supports
compliance and effective implementation of fishery and protected species management measures.
Actions
Identify trends, opportunities, and challenges regarding the enforceability of new and
existing policies and regulations.
Continue effective law enforcement coordination between NOAA Fisheries and state
partners.
Support data sharing between NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Coast Guard,
and where applicable, relevant foreign nations.
Work collaboratively with outreach and gear technology specialists to improve the
compliance of fishermen with bycatch mitigation requirements.
Continue to support the working relationships with international organizations such as
INTERPOL and other international enforcement bodies.

Communicate
NOAA Fisheries recognizes the importance of effective communication and coordination with
partners and stakeholders to reduce bycatch and bycatch mortality. Fishermen and other
stakeholders provide valuable information about our most pressing bycatch problems, creative ideas
for possible solutions, and feedback about what is—and is not—working on the water. We will
continue to improve our collaboration with partners and stakeholders to build a common
understanding of bycatch, efforts to reduce bycatch and its impacts, and lessons learned. We will
work to better communicate successes and stimulate similar activity in other areas.
Actions
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Improve the fishing industry’s understanding of existing bycatch reduction methods and
requirements to facilitate compliance with current regulations and further reduce bycatch.
Improve the public availability of information about regional and national bycatch reduction
research and bycatch of fish and protected species.
Encourage stakeholders to provide information on bycatch efforts they have successfully
implemented.
Improve the availability of information from bycatch program assessments/reviews to
fisheries managers and stakeholders.
Promote greater awareness of bycatch and discard mortality issues within the fishing
community.
Engage recreational anglers in sharing approaches for increasing post-release survival.
Use all available communication tools to ensure our message is accessible to all
stakeholders (e.g. captains and crew who are not native English speakers).
Educate consumers on increased utilization of economic discards and how to make smart
seafood choices using NOAA Fisheries tools, such as FishWatch.gov.
Foster relationships with domestic and international partners and stakeholders to better
understand and address bycatch concerns.

Fisheries observer Sean Sullivan sorts and samples the day’s catch.
[1] Fish, as defined in the MSA, “means finfish, mollusks, crustaceans, and all other forms of marine animal and
plant life other than marine mammals and birds.” 16 U.S.C. § 1802(12)
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[2] “Take” of endangered species is prohibited under section 9 of the Endangered Species Act; under section 4,
these protections may be extended to threatened species. 16 U.S.C. §§ 1333 and 1338

More Information


Bycatch



Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program



National Bycatch Reduction Strategy

Last updated by Office of Sustainable Fisheries on 02/20/2024

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