By-Catch and discards: An Overview

Bycatch and discards non-target species caught and often discarded—pose serious threats to global fisheries, especially shrimp trawling, which alone contributes about 27% of global discards. Gear like trawls, gillnets, and longlines capture fish, turtles, seabirds, and marine mammals, disrupting ecosystems, damaging habitats, and threatening biodiversity. In India, despite high bycatch, data and mitigation efforts remain weak. While technologies such as Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) and Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs) exist, poor enforcement and awareness hinder their use. Urgent ecosystem-based management and stricter adoption of bycatch-reducing tools are vital for sustainable fisheries and ocean biodiversity conservation.