Report of the Working Group on Bycatch of Protected Species (WGBYC)

The Working Group on Bycatch of Protected Species (WGBYC) met at NOAA Fisheries Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) in Woods Hole Massachusetts USA, 12–15 June 2017. The meeting was chaired by Marjorie Lyssikatos (USA) and was attended by 15 members from nine nations. WGBYC was also attended by one client observer from the European Commission (EC) Director General of Marine Affairs.

WGBYC addressed eight terms of reference (ToR) given in Annex 2 and members carried the work of WGBYC independently, in small groups and also in plenary. The 2017 report is structured in the same order of the terms of reference. Highlights from the 2017 meeting include expanding membership, notably protected species (PS) bycatch data from Icelandic fisheries and seabird bycatch experts, review of ongoing bycatch mitigation research projects (ToR-C), site visit/tour of the NEFSC Fisheries Sampling Branch and its staff presentations on interdisciplinary bycatch monitoring programs in the US Northwest Atlantic northeast region, collaborations with other ICES working groups (i.e. WGCATCH and JWGBIRD; ToR-B and ToR-D), positive advancements on WGBYC database development working jointly with the ICES Data Centre (ToR-F), and progress on summarizing bycatch for the Baltic Sea and Bay of Biscay/Iberia fisheries overviews (ToR-H).