"Tackling marine mammal bycatch challenges through different mitigation approaches in collaboration with stakeholders“  

This workshop addresses the issue of bycatch, which is considered a major global threat to marine mammals and results from complex ecological, technological, and socioeconomic factors.

This workshop was held during the 37th ECS Annual Conference, April 22–24, 2026, in Dundee, Scotland. 

Supported by five EU-funded projects (REDUCE, ECO-CATCH, MarineGuardian, Marine Beacon, and CIBBRiNA), this initiative aims to present the latest research findings and test mitigation measures, such as exclusion devices and acoustic deterrents, under real-world fishing conditions.

A central theme is the importance of collaboration among stakeholders, particularly with fishermen, to co-create practical and effective solutions that ensure long-term sustainability and regulatory compliance.

While waiting for the publication of the results, you can review the different solutions presented and add your comments on one of the following eleven topics presented in the attached document: 

1. From Observation to Action: Building Cetacean-Friendly Beach Seine Practices in Portugal
2. Stakeholder consensus suggests strategies to promote sustainability in an artisanal fishery with high rates of poaching and marine mammal bycatch
3. Using acoustic monitoring to inform bycatch mitigation in static nets
4. Estimating bycatch in European waters and learning about bycatch along the way
5. Game of Trawls: towards a real-time reaction to bycatch events inside fishing trawls
6. Mitigation of seal-fisheryinteractions: examples from the norther Baltic Sea 
7. Overview of bycatch mitigation online toolkits 
8. The Life CIBBRiNA stakeholder engagement approach 
9. Challenges and successes in attempts to reduce cetacean bycatch in UK waters 
10. Integrating Bycatch Mitigation into Operational Fisheries Management 
11. What factors influence the optimization and uptake of bycatch mitigation approaches to minimize marine mammal bycatch? A conceptual mapping session

 These eleven topics can define the priority areas for action, which can be grouped as follows:

• Current knowledge on marine mammal bycatch;
• Recent developments, trials and challenges in the uptake of different bycatch approaches in experimental and commercial fisheries settings;
• Wider implications and long-term effects of bycatch mitigation measures on endangered marine mammal species;
• Best practices for co-creation of bycatch solutions with fishers, scientists, gear developers and other stakeholders;
• Adressing challenges in bycatch trial designs and data analysis.