Northwest Atlantic

Regional Coordinator: Ramunas Zydelis

The Northwest Atlantic (NWA) region includes Atlantic Canada, Atlantic U.S. north of 30°40’ N (Georgia/Florida border), and west Greenland (west of 44° W; FAO fishing area 21 and northern part of 31). Longline, trawl and gillnet fisheries operate in the region targeting a variety of finfish and shrimp. There are also extensive shellfish, lobster, and crab fisheries, which are not the current focus of Project GloBAL. All three taxa – seabirds, marine mammals and sea turtles are accidentally caught in fishing gear. Onboard fishery observer programs, which record non-fish bycatch exist in U.S. and Canadian longline, gillnet and trawl fisheries.

Marine mammal bycatch occurs mostly in gillnets; seabird bycatch also occurs in gillnets and to a lesser extent on longlines; sea turtle bycatch occurs in shrimp trawls and on longlines. Bycatch mitigation measures have been implemented to reduce sea turtle mortality in shrimp trawls and cetacean bycatch in gillnets. There was also experimental testing of circle hooks as a measure to mitigate sea turtle hooking on longlines. In addition to accidental mortality of non-target organisms in fishing gear, there is also targeted harvesting of marine mammals in Greenland.