Simple floating deterrents cut auk bycatch in a working Cornish gillnet fishery
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
A two-year commercial-fishery trial off Cornwall tested two above-water visual deterrents alongside active gillnet fishing. Vessel cameras and paired deployments showed that a Looming Eye Buoy reduced the probability of guillemot and razorbill bycatch by 59%, while a bird-of-prey kite reduced it by 71%. Most recorded bycatch occurred in winter, giving the intervention a clear seasonal targeting signal.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
This is unusually practical conservation evidence: the intervention was tested inside a real fishery with fishers rather than only in a behavioral arena. The seasonal concentration of bycatch also means managers may be able to focus deployment where it buys the most risk reduction rather than treating every trip identically.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
The trial involved 10 Cornish vessels, one regional fishery and primarily two auk species. Effectiveness may differ with gear, vessel practices, weather, habituation, species assemblage or region; the result supports further operational use and testing, not a universal bycatch solution.
SOURCE
Conservation Letters — primary study
View original evidence ↗
A two-year trial with 10 commercial fishers found a Looming Eye Buoy reduced guillemot and razorbill bycatch risk by 59% and a predator-shaped kite by 71%.
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