Mitigation of Ecosystem-Level Impacts of Fisheries Bycatch on Marine Megafauna: Conservation Policy, Economic Instruments, and Technical Change

presentationBycatch reduction policies, traditionally focused on command-and-control at-sea measures, can be reframed to a broader-based biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management strategy. More cost- and ecologically-effective bycatch mitigation measures may directly and more effectively increase impacted populations elsewhere in their geographic range or life cycle. At-sea bycatch reduction faces diminishing returns in benefits and rising marginal costs to the point where additional gains in bycatch reduction are outweighted by the marginal costs and net economic benefits decline. There can be an opportunity cost to at-sea bycatch reduction within a broad-based and holistic bycatch perspective. A broader-based ecosystem approach to biodiversity conservation thus allows incorporating a broader range of policy instruments, applied at life stages and geographical ranges other than those of the strict harvesting process to achieve better cost- and ecological effectiveness. Incentive-based bycatch reduction practices may more directly and cost-effectively reduce bycatch.One of the most important forces reducing bycatch is induced (directed) biased bycatch-saving technical change that is differentially difrected by different policy instruments and technology policies. Policiy instruments not only directly reduce bycatch but also create incentives to induce and direct bycatch-saving technical change. Biodiversity mitigation that is both compensatory (offsets) and non-compensatory is part of a holistic approach that may or may not be intended to directly offset current fishing or substitute for current at-sea measures, and may instead be a complementary measure. Biodiversity mitigation can be evaluated according to six criteria. Other conservation policy instruments from the terrestrial realm can also be applied as part of a holistic conservation strategy. The focus is upon large megafauna in large pelagic ecosystems