Determining Bycatch Susceptibility of Finfish and Invertebrates

Catch of non-target marine species in fisheries (bycatch) can negatively affect species populations and diminish the health of marine ecosystems. Therefore, fisheries must minimize, mitigate and manage fisheries bycatch, among... [ view full abstract ]

Catch of non-target marine species in fisheries (bycatch) can negatively affect species populations and diminish the health of marine ecosystems. Therefore, fisheries must minimize, mitigate and manage fisheries bycatch, among other factors, to achieve a positive sustainability rating by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch^® program (SFW). Unfortunately, information about bycatch in many fisheries worldwide is unknown. When bycatch is unknown, the SFW Standard for Fisheries uses tables that generically score the susceptibility of different species assemblages to bycatch in different gears, called Unknown Bycatch Matrices (UBMs). The current UBMs for finfish, forage fish, invertebrates, and biogenic habitats are based on studies from fisheries operating in Canadian and US waters. SFW is updating the UBMs to coincide with our standard revision process, which occurs every four years to reflect the current scientific thinking around sustainability. We wish to host a focus group at the IMCC to elicit expert opinion regarding bycatch susceptibility of the assemblages mentioned above. We plan to conduct this elicitation in two phases. Phase one will be a web survey of experts to obtain feedback of strawman groupings within each assemblage. Phase two will be the in-person Focus Group to determine bycatch susceptibility of each assemblage grouping and the certainty around each susceptibility score. Outputs include revisions to the SFW Standard for Fisheries and a peer-reviewed publication. Anticipated meeting time is two hours in a facilitated discussion with possible breakout groups. We hope to have 10-15 participants and would require a PowerPoint projector and flipcharts.