Refers to a catch on a non-target species of fish during fisheries directed at other species. A good example of by-catch is the steelhead captured during fisheries for chum and sockeye salmon. Since these 3 species have overlapping migration timings, it is difficult to harvest one without taking some of the other.
Living creatures which are caught unintentionally by fishing gear. Bycatch includes those fish captured by fishers (both commercial and recreational) that are undersized, prohibited, inedible or unsaleable. It also includes dolphins, albatrosses and turtles. Search for more information...
Non-targeted fish species and marine life caught incidentally by fishing vessels—whether in nets or otherwise. By-catch has to be thrown overboard, regardless of whether it's dead or not. Factory trawlers, in particular, are criticized for wasting millions of pounds of fish annually.
unwanted marine creatures that are caught in the nets while fishing for another species; "thousands of dolphins and porpoises and whales are killed as part of the by-catch each year"
the total number of non-target organisms caught incidentally in non-selective fishing gear.
The catch of one species when the target species is another.
non-target organisms that are caught in fishing or other harvest operations and are usually discarded.
In fisheries science, by-catch refers to species caught in a fishery intended to target another species, as well as reproductively-immature juveniles of the target species. OECD (1997) defines bycatch as Total fishing mortality excluding that accounted directly by the retained catch of target species. According to Alverson et al. (1994) there are at least three different uses of the word by-catch in fisheries.