Testing effectiveness of visual bycatch reduction technology to reduce sea turtle bycatch in a coastal net fishery

Published by Southeast Fisheries Science Center | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: December 10, 2025 | Last Modified: 2024-10-30T00:00:00.000+00:00

Pound nets are a passive fishing gear used globally that can lead to frequent bycatch of sea turtles and other protected marine megafauna. However, despite their global ubiquity and high bycatch, there are few tested solutions to reduce sea turtle bycatch in pound net fisheries. Net illumination is a sensory-based bycatch reduction technology that has reduced bycatch of sea turtles and other marine megafauna while maintaining target fish catch in multiple coastal gillnet fisheries worldwide. Given the success of gillnet illumination, we are testing the effects of illuminating pound nets with both battery- and solar-powered green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on sea turtle bycatch and target fish catch in experimental pound net fishing gear in inshore North Carolina waters.

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EARTH SCIENCE > AGRICULTURE > AGRICULTURAL AQUATIC SCIENCES > FISHERIES EARTH SCIENCE > BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/VERTEBRATES > REPTILES > TURTLES > SEA TURTLES DOC/NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC > Southeast Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce Funded Projects

Complete Metadata

describedByType	application/octet-steam
identifier	gov.noaa.nmfs.inport:73767
issued	2024-10-30T00:00:00.000+00:00
landingPage	https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inport/item/73767
language	[]
references	[ "https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/inportserve/waf/noaa/nmfs/sefsc/dmp/pdf/73767.pdf" ]
rights	otherRestrictions, unclassified