When you eat a piece of tuna, you may not realise it, but many other sea creatures could have been killed or injured in the act of catching that fish – including sharks, whales and dolphins.
Bycatch is the name given to unwanted animals or plants that are caught up in the nets in the pursuit of other types of fish. Some bycatch is kept for sale, yet many cannot be sold so are discarded. These animals are often injured or killed by the time they are thrown back into the ocean. For marine mammals like dolphins and whales this can sometimes be by drowning.
Different fishing methods, like trawling or longline fishing, are worse for producing bycatch than other, like pole and line fishing. Particularly on the high seas, bycatch can be difficult to monitor and regulate, but a new computer model might have the answer.
Read more on Wired UK
Abigail Beall 