Turning Research into Action at the Seabird Bycatch Reduction Strategies Workshop
Investigation of baiting practices on catch and bycatch in gillnets and design of an effective outreach program to minimize seabird bycatch
February 18, 2026
CFF participated in a virtual workshop focused on reducing seabird bycatch in commercial gillnet, longline, and trawl fisheries. The virtual meeting, sponsored by the Trilateral Bycatch Working Group and the Atlantic Marine Bird Cooperative, took place on February 11-12, 2026. More than 120 scientists, managers, and fishermen attended from North, Central, and South America and Europe.
CFF played a key role in the meeting, with our current project “Investigation of baiting practices on catch and bycatch in gillnets and design of an effective outreach program to minimize seabird bycatch” serving as a model for effective collaboration with fishermen and promotion of bycatch reduction methods. CFF led the session on Bycatch Reduction Promotion Methods, with help from our project collaborators at the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance (CCCFA) and two of the fishermen who participated in the project.
After CFF Senior Research Biologist Liese Siemann and CCCFA Policy Director Aubrey Church gave a presentation about the research project and outreach strategy, CFF Research Biologist Natalie Jennings led a panel discussion with fishermen Greg Connors and John Our and CFF research technician Emily O’Toole. The panel discussion sparked a broader dialogue with meeting participants about the importance of including fishermen input when developing effective bycatch reduction strategies.
The project, funded through the Open Ocean Trustees Implementation Group using Deepwater Horizon settlement money, was designed to reduce shearwater bycatch in the spiny dogfish gillnet fishery off Cape Cod. This bycatch was very high in the late 2010s because shifting sands made navigating out of the harbor to the ocean very difficult, and the window for fishing vessels to safely transit over the Chatham Bar was limited to high tide. To maximize dogfish catch during a tight time window, fishermen were throwing bait onto the gillnets as they were deployed. Shearwaters dove into the nets to get the bait and became entangled in the mesh. CFF began discussions with fishermen in this fleet in early 2018, discussing alternatives to directly baiting their gillnets. As a result of these discussions, the project tested three alternative baiting methods: forward baiting, after baiting, and end baiting. Data collected over two years of sea trials showed that after baiting - when bait is dumped along the net string after setting - is the best option for fishermen, resulting in no seabird bycatch and higher catch rates. As the project enters its third year, effort will be focused on sharing best practices with the gillnet fleet and working with early adopters to encourage widespread use of after baiting.