Seabird. (Photo: Badjoby/CC BY-SA 3.0)
Seabird death toll can drop by 85pct if LED lights are used
UNITED KINGDOM
Saturday, July 14, 2018, 00:30 (GMT + 9)
New research conducted by the University of Exeter shows that illuminating fishing nets with low-cost lights could reduce the terrible impact they have on seabirds and marine-dwellers by more than 85 per cent.
The team of international researchers carrying out the study, led by Dr Jeffrey Mangel from the University of Exeter, has shown the number of birds caught in gillnets can be drastically reduced by attaching green battery-powered light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
For the study, the researchers compared 114 pairs of gillnets -- which are anchored in fixed positions at sea and designed to snare fish by the gills -- in fishing waters off the coast of Peru.
They discovered that the nets fitted with the LEDs caught 85 per cent fewer guanay cormorants -- a native diving bird that commonly becomes entangled in nets -- compared with those without lights.
Coupled with previous research conducted by the same team, that showed LED lighting also reduced the number of sea turtles caught in fishing nets by 64 per cent, the researchers believe the lights offer a cheap, reliable and durable way to dramatically reduce the capture and death of birds and turtles, without reducing the intended catch of fish.
Referring to the study, Lead author Dr Mangel, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation at the University's Penryn Campus, pointed out it shows that it may be possible to find cost-effective ways to reduce bycatch of multiple taxa of protected species, and do so while still making it possible for fishers to earn a livelihood.
The innovative study, carried out in Sechura Bay in northern Peru, saw the LED lights attached at regular intervals to commercial fishing gillnets which are anchored to the bottom of the water. The nets are left in situ from late afternoon until sunlight, when the fishermen collect their haul.
The researchers used 114 pairs of nets, each typically around 500-metres in length. In each pair, one was illuminated with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) placed every ten metres along the gillnet floatline. The other net in the pair was the control and not illuminated.
The control nets caught 39 cormorants, while the illuminated nets caught just six.
"It is satisfying to see the work coming from our Exeter Marine PhDs leading to such positive impact in the world. We need to find ways for coastal peoples to fish with the least impact on the rest of the biodiversity in their seas," highlighted Professor Brendan Godley, who is an author of the study and Marine Strategy Lead for the University of Exeter.
The research was published in the Royal Society journal Open Science.
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