| Objectives: | The ecological impacts and mortality rates resulting from by catches in world fisheries are significantly, affecting finfish (particularly juveniles of commercial species), benthic invertebrates, marine mammals, turtles & birds. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), estimated recently that worldwide, discards in commercial fisheries are of the order of 20 million metric tones & account for economic losses that run into billions of dollars annually. Tropical shrimp trawl fisheries generate more by-catch than any other type of fishery, of the order of 5.8 million metric tones almost six times the catch of shrimp landed. Although several devices have been developed & proved to be efficient in the reduction of by-catches, to date, no concerted international effort has been made to resolve the problem of the impact of tropical shrimp trawl fisheries on marine ecosystems and species. The present project proposes to reduce the environmental stress caused by shrimp trawl fishing operations in tropical waters by promoting the sea of best practices and technology, including by-catching exclusion technology; facilitating the development of strategies and revision of national policies so as to remove existing barriers to adopting practices designed to minimize impacts on non-targeted species and habitats. |