Development of protocols and guidelines for fishing gear to mitigate the ongoing impact of SIOFA fisheries on vulnerable deepwater sharks, including the definitions of leader and wire and other leader types for longline gear, and the application of move-on rules for demersal longline and trawl fisheries to protect vulnerable deepwater sharks.
This Project aims to address Recommendation number 19 of the SIOFA Performance Review “The Panel recommends SIOFA CCPs to agree urgently on measures to reduce shark bycatches, in particular by implementing any mitigation measures that identified as effective by the 2023 specific workshop on sharks to take place under the aegis of the Scientific Committee, including precautionary catch limits for Portuguese dogfish. Recommendation nr 2 on the assessment of the status of shark stocks is also relevant for the issues discussed under this criterion”. This recommendation was considered by the MoP as a High priority and therefore the SC noting the limited information available on the impact of wire traces on deep water bycatch rates in bottom longlines recommended further research be conducted during 2024 on trace type in the SIOFA Area. Therefore, this project mainly focuses on the impact of using alternative trace types on the bycatch rate of sharks and target species.