Understanding the impact of marine mammal bycatch

Marine mammal populations are well known to be impacted by accidental entrapment in fishing gear through much of the world Reeves et al 2013, and within the UK as elsewhere accidental capture in fisheries is the primary conservation issue for this species group overall. The UK has international obligations to monitor and where necessary to mitigate bycatch, stemming from agreements under the Bonn Convention on Highly Migratory Species and through the International Whaling Commission. Under the Aichi targets of the...