Jun

18

2008
 
 

There’s a catch, after all



Offsetting marine bycatch could do more harm than good, study finds

Trawling for solutionsCan fisheries bycatch impacts be offset by making efforts to protect afflicted species elsewhere? Not according to a study published today in PLoS ONE, which claims that the “compensatory mitigation for marine bycatch” approach is a non-starter. A baker’s dozen of international scientists, led by University of California Santa Cruz researcher Myra Finkelstein, found that diverting attention to other conservation measures – such as removing non-native predators from breeding grounds – could potentially spell disaster. The problem is that such an approach requires action for each individual bycatch species, thereby spreading conservation resources too thinly. The focus should remain on finding ways to reduce bycatch, Finkelstein’s team concludes. Source: Finkelstein M, Bakker V, Doak DF, Sullivan B, Lewison R, Satterthwaite WH, McIntyre PB, Wolf S, Priddel D, Arnold JM, Henry RW, Sievert P & Croxall J (2008) Evaluating the potential effectiveness of compensatory mitigation strategies for marine bycatch. PLoS ONE DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0002480

Image: © Thomas Shortell

Filed Under Endangered species, Invasive species, Restoration, Marine, Economics and conservation, Community-based conservation, Socio-political issues | 

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One Response to “There’s a catch, after all”

  1. Public Library of Science on June 24th, 2008 6:01 pm

    The Muted Mating of Female Chimps…

    As Niyaz Ahmed, PLoS ONE Section Editor for Microbiology and Genomics, observed on his blog, there were two articles on the behaviour of chimpanzees published in PLoS ONE last week, one of which, Female Chimpanzees Use Copulation Calls Flexibly to Prev…

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