Small green lights attached to fishing nets helped reduce the number of sea turtles caught accidentally in a Peruvian fishery.
NOAA Fisheries’ account of the 2016 research reports an approximately 64% reduction in turtle bycatch, without a corresponding reduction in the desired fish catch.
Making a net easier to avoid
The work took place in Sechura Bay, northern Peru. Researchers tested illuminated gillnets against conventional nets under real fishing conditions.
The result concerns bycatch rate under the study’s conditions. It should not be described as a worldwide reduction in all sea turtle deaths.
Raw totals also should not be used to reproduce the percentage without accounting for fishing effort and the analysis applied in the study.
A useful approach with local testing
A later University of Exeter study reported reduced turtle and small-cetacean bycatch in additional Peruvian fishing operations.
That follow-up supports continued testing, while leaving room for variation among species, gear types and fisheries. The exact mechanism and effectiveness cannot be assumed identical everywhere.
The approach is promising because conservation measures must work for people as well as wildlife. Reducing unwanted captures while preserving the target catch can make a change more practical for fishers to adopt.