Posted on 31 January
2010 - A new law requiring French Guianese
shrimp fishers to use
special devices that reduce unwanted fish
catch will help better protect marine turtles
and other vulnerable marine species in the
region.
As of Jan. 1, the country’s
fishing fleet under the new law now has
to use a device called the Trash and Turtle
Excluder Device, or TTED, to limit accidental
capture of larger marine species.
Widespread use of this
device, which took three years to develop,
will greatly reduce bycatch among shrimp
trawlers. In French Guiana, tropical shrimp
fisheries represent a major source of undesired
bycatch. Without a bycatch reduction device
in place, shrimp represents only 10 to 30
percent of the total catch, meaning the
rest is made up of other marine species.
Nearly half of the world’s
recorded fish catch is unused, wasted or
not accounted for, according to estimates
in an April scientific paper co-authored
by WWF. The paper, Defining and Estimating
Global Marine Fisheries Bycatch, estimated
that each year at least 38 million tonnes
of fish, constituting at least 40 percent
of what is taken from oceans by fishing
activities, is unmanaged or unused and should
be considered bycatch.
The TTED is an improvement
of a previous device, the Turtle Excluder
Device, that consists of a rigid grill inserted
at a 45 degrees angle in the trawl with
an opening toward the top or bottom. NOAA
has documented in research a 97 percent
reduction in marine turtle captures through
using the device, and additional TED studies
conducted internationally have shown a reduction
in large marine organism bycatch of as much
as 91 percent.
After three years of
trials, a prototype combining the advantages
of different systems was identified. This
model, the TTED, offers numerous advantages,
including a 25 to 40 percent reduction of
fish bycatch.
In addition, the TTED
reduces sorting time and risks of injury
due to sharks and rays being caught. The
new gear also improves the quality of shrimps,
which are less likely to be crushed in the
bottom of the trawl, and may also lead to
a reduction in the amount of fuel consumed
by the boats.
WWF will be talking
about this successful project at the upcoming
Seafood Summit in Paris, France, running
from Jan. 31to Feb. 2.
The TTED is the culmination
of years of research. With funding provided
by the European Union and the DIREN (Regional
Environmental Authorities), WWF commissioned
a study from IFREMER (French Research Institute
for Exploitation of the Sea) to determine
which selective gear was the most adapted
to fishing conditions in French Guiana.
These initial trials, conducted under experimental
conditions, were carried out on board a
shrimp trawler.
Following this work,
shrimp industry’s members expressed the
need to continue these experiments and to
become more involved in the project. In
response, WWF and the French Guiana Regional
Fishery and Ocean Farming Commission began
working in close collaboration in order
to determine the best gear for the French
Guiana fleet.
With technical support
from NOAA and IFREMER, the Commission carried
out numerous at sea trials in close collaboration
with French Guiana fleets. Specific parameters
where tested such as the shape and spacing
between the bars of the selective grid.
These trials allowed the fleets and the
crews onboard the shrimp trawlers to understand
the advantages of a more selective fishing
gear and the benefits of using it in French
Guiana.
Based on the results
and the captains’ recommendations, the Commission
decided to make the use of this TTED system
mandatory by January 2010, when the annual
fishing licences are issued.
The TTED was developed
with the assistance of IFREMER, NOAA, French
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Région
Guyane, and the European Fund for Fisheries
(FEP).
