The Joint Webinars on Fisheries Bycatch bring together key stakeholders from REDUCE, CIBBRiNA, and Marine Beacon to share knowledge and experiences that contribute to bycatch reduction. Each month, speakers present diverse perspectives on research, data collection, monitoring, gear innovations, management strategies, mitigation measures, industry engagement, socioeconomics, and more. These webinars take place online on the second Friday of every month from 12:00 to 13:00 CET.
To achieve a sustainable reduction in the bycatch of Endangered, Threatened and Protected (ETP) species, it is essential to effectively engage all relevant stakeholders so that solutions can be developed, tested, and implemented collaboratively.
In this session, Graham Pierce from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain, and Rosa Fernández from the Centro Tecnológico del Mar (CETMAR), Spain, will present insights from the CIBBRiNA project, a six-year initiative running until 2029 that places collaboration at the heart of its approach.
CIBBRiNA has developed a Safe Working Environment in which bycatch mitigation techniques and strategies can be evaluated, a Best Practice Guide on Stakeholder Engagement to strengthen partnerships, and a Stakeholder Engagement and Communication Strategy to improve dialogue around bycatch and its solutions.
Two years into the project, Graham and Rosa will reflect on how this explicit stakeholder engagement framework is functioning as a “pathway to change”—helping ensure that all actors feel both able and willing to contribute to identifying needs, exploring opportunities, and supporting the testing and implementation of mitigation measures.
The webinar will also explore CIBBRiNA’s evaluation of the impacts of bycatch mitigation on both ETP species and fisheries, considering factors such as gear handling, sustainability, and effects on target catch. The speakers will share examples from the project’s work to date, demonstrating how the human dimension of bycatch mitigation is addressed, such as efforts to reduce turtle bycatch, adapt pelagic fishing gear, and foster open discussions on bycatch assessments across diverse audiences.