Replace harmful fishing gear and protect critical no-take areas

Reduce direct and incidental mortality by changing or removing gear known to catch threatened animals, testing safer alternatives with fishers and restricting fishing in clearly defined critical habitats or seasons. Measures may include hook, net, trap or line modifications, acoustic or visual deterrents, depth or time restrictions, and no-take areas.

The FAO International Guidelines on Bycatch Management and Reduction of Discards provide a framework for assessing and reducing bycatch. Regulations should be paired with monitoring, enforcement and economic support where costs fall on small-scale fishing communities.

Alternative gear must be evaluated for actual target catch, bycatch, safety, affordability and compliance. A technically promising design that fishers cannot use or regulators cannot verify will not deliver recovery.