bycatch

Thân thiện

Fishermen sort through a net to separate the target fish from the bycatch.

Definition

Noun: * Unintended catch: The term "bycatch" refers to marine animals that are caught unintentionally by fishing gear while targeting a different, specific species. This includes fish, but also marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds that are not the primary target of the fishery.

Usage

"Bycatch" is a technical term used primarily in environmental science, marine biology, fisheries management, and conservation contexts. It describes a significant ecological and economic problem in commercial fishing. * It is typically used as a non-count noun (e.g., "reduce bycatch") but can be used as a count noun when referring to specific instances or types (e.g., "dolphins are a common bycatch"). * The word often carries a negative connotation, implying waste and harm to ecosystems.

Examples

• Modern fishing regulations aim to minimize bycatch through the use of more selective gear.
• The shrimp trawl fishery has a high level of bycatch, including juvenile fish and endangered sea turtles.
• Researchers are studying the amount of bycatch generated by the tuna fleet.

Advanced Usage

• "Discarded bycatch": This phrase emphasizes that the bycatch is often thrown back into the sea, usually dead or dying.
  • The new net design significantly reduced the amount of discarded bycatch.
• "Bycatch reduction device (BRD)": A technical term for equipment modified or added to fishing gear to allow non-target species to escape.
  • The use of a bycatch reduction device is now mandatory in many fisheries.

Variants and Related Words

• By-catch: An alternative hyphenated spelling of the noun.
• Incidental catch: A formal synonym for "bycatch."
• Non-target species: A more general biological term for species not primarily sought, which may become bycatch.

Synonyms

• Incidental catch
• Unintended catch
• Accidental catch

Antonyms

• Target catch
• Target species

Related Phrases

• To be caught as bycatch: Describes the fate of the non-target animal.
  • Thousands of seabirds are caught as bycatch in longline fisheries each year.
• Bycatch mitigation: Refers to strategies and technologies used to reduce bycatch.
  • Bycatch mitigation is a key goal of sustainable fishery management.

Học thuật

Noun

1. 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

Từ đồng nghĩa

• by-catch