Ecologically Efficient Solutions to Reduce Dolphin By-Catches in Gillnets

Abstract

At the Romanian coast, as well as in other World Ocean areas, every year, tens and even hundreds of cetaceans die tragically as a follow-up of being accidentally by-caught in commercial fishing gear. The interaction between cetaceans and fisheries is an issue which may affect significantly the conservation state of dolphin populations, by causing accidental death due to capture or entanglement in gillnet-type fishing gear. For such reasons, with the view to protecting dolphin populations, research has been carried-out to establish technical solutions to reduce accidental by-catches reported in gillnet-type fishing gear. One of these solutions is fitting the fishing gear with special ultrasound devices - pingers.