Dear Cecilia. Looks like an interesting project using bycatch to develop bait for octopus capture. I have unfortunately not worked on bait production, but maybe other readers have and could share some of their experiences?

Best regards,

Jogeir

Dear Cecilia. The use of bycatch in developing bait not only for octopus capture will be a good way to reduce bycatch. There seems to be limited studies on this topic but definitely an interesting area for research.

Best regards,

Omar

Dear Juan Antonio. I have no knowledge in the elaboration of bait, but this is a good example of how fish currently discarded can be utilized. As long as the species used are sustainably managed this is an excellent idea.

Best regards, Jogeir

Dear Juan Antonio. I do not have enough knowledge on the use of fish bycatch as bait but small bycatch fish can definitely be used as baits. Your suggestion to use fish flour and form a dough is good idea. However, do you cooked (by boiling or other methods) the dough prior to use. Otherwise, the dough will just dissolve in the water. Looking forward to hear from you.

Kind regards, Omar.

Dear Carlos. I some fisheries, in particular in Asia, the entire capture is considered the target as it is all utilized. The important issue here is to ensure all the species captured are managed in a sustainable way, and this can be difficult. In the REBYC-II LAC project the main objective is to reduce bycatch, but there is also this one component looking at what do we actually do with the bycatch that is left. As long as we are involved in fishing activities, there will always be part of the capture that will be regarded as bycatch. The question is what do we do with this part without discouraging the reduction of bycatch. The sector needs incentives to reduce bycatch, but at the same time incentives not to throw away what has been captured.

Best regards,

Jogeir

Dear Carlos. The shift of catch from target to bycatch species is shows flexibility and resiliency and is highly observed in small scale fisheries. In Asia, every catch is utilized and the shift of target species is driven by the market demand and price. The important thing here is that no fish goes to waste. In solving the this problem in shifting of target species, providing proper guidance or building the capacity of fishers regarding fish trade and up-to-date market might be helpful, adding up to the provision of incentives to reduce bycatch.

Regards,

Omar

Dear Enrique. The composition of the bycatch varies a lot, depending on factors such as the area, season and type of equipment used. In some cases the species of the bycatch has a high commercial value, but often the species and size of the fish do not have a demanded in the market. Volumes are huge millions of tons per year, but exact numbers are difficult to find since most of this capture is never registered and often discarded at sea.

Best regards, Jogeir

Dear Enrique. A Technical Paper on A third assessment of global  marine fisheries discards (http://www.fao.org/3/CA2905EN/ca2905en.pdf) which was published early this year provides estimates of the bycatch and discards.

Kind regards,

Omar

Dear Rafael. If bycatch is utilized it is because there is a demand in the market. Some high value species are sold for human consumption. Lower value species might also be sold or given away. However, most of the bycatch might not be considered for food purposes, but can be used as for example a feed ingredient. In some cases it is processed into fish meal. The production of fish silage is another technology suitable for processing fish for feed purposes. However, reducing volumes of bycatch is priority. Then secondly look for ways of utilizing what eventually is captured. Nothing should be discarded. In addition to bycatch utilization one should also look at the utilization of the byproducts generated  when processing fish (heads, guts, etc.). Same technologies can be used here.

Best regards, Jogeir

Dear Rafael. The utilization of bycatch depends on the value of the species. As Jogeir mentioned, bycatch can be used first and foremost as food, as long as it is safe. Then as feed ingredients and the least as fertilizer. Bycatch can be processed into fish meal, fish silage, hydrolysates, fish oil, fish leather and other fish byproducts with varying costs and technology.

Kind regards,

Omar

Dear Manuel. Great you are also looking into the utilization of bycatch. It is often difficult to understand that we are encouraging the utilization of bycatch because this is seen as an incentive to continue without reducing bycatch. Our focus is to reduce discards, but at the same time reduce bycatch.

Best regards, Jogeir

Dear Manuel. Good to hear that your organization will be participating on utilizing bycatch. It will also be good to advocate the reduction of discards as raised by Jogeir.

Kind regards,

Omar

Dear Cherif. I believe we will need technical solutions in order to manage how to utilize the bycatch. Reducing bycatch is the number one job. However, as long as we allow fishing activities there will be some bycatch. Secondly, I believe discards should be reduced or even eliminated. This is where the utilization of bycatch is a solution. We see more and more countries introducing legislation that does not allow discarding their bycatch. On one side this would be an incentive to reduce bycatch in order to make more space onboard for the targeted species. The bycatch will be landed, and therefore there is a need to find ways of utilizing it.

Best regards, Jogeir

Dear Cherif. Discards can be eliminated if we managed to utilized the bycatch. Avoiding bycatch needs a good (maybe highly sophisticated) technology in fishing. As more countries introduce the legislation on discards, the more we have to find ways and means to utilize bycatch.

Kind regards,

Omar

From Jogeir: 

Dear Giuliano, 

I have a background in chemistry and human nutrition with a particular focus on fish as food. For the last thirteen years I have been working for FAO focusing on improving the utilization of our limited fisheries resources with a focus on promoting the role fish plays for food security and nutrition, reducing waste and losses, reducing the environmental impact and improving the economy of the sector.

Probably less than 50% of the fish produced or captured today is actually consumed by humans. In a processing facility producing fish fillets, heads, skin, fins, guts, etc. are removed. This represent about 50% of the fish. In addition, losses and waste of fish in the entire value chain represent millions of tons every year, and huge volumes of catch are discarded, such as bycatch, and not utilized. Although we should try to minimize bycatch to a minimum, there will still be significant volumes of bycatch left. If it is justified from an environmental and sustainability point of view, we should try to find ways of utilizing this valuable resource.

For the last ten years my work in FAO has involved many activities trying to improve the use of our limited fisheries resources by promoting the use of the parts of the fish not being utilized, and looking at ways to process low value fish species and bycatch into products for human consumption or eventually feed or other agricultural uses. It is a paradox that very often the parts of the fish traditionally not consumed, or fish species not commonly eaten are the most valuable in terms of nutrients but the least valuable in terms of economy.

Looking forward to being involved in the discussion!

 Best regards,

Jogeir

From Omar Penarubia:

Dear Giuliano, 

My background is in food science, technology and nutrition. I have more than five years of work in food companies ranging from food safety, food manufacturing and product development. Working for more than two years in FAO, I am involve in projects on food loss and waste in the fish value chain and fish postharvest technology.

I am working on projects that aim to develop technologies and methodologies that utilize fish and parts of the fish not ending up as human food, into a valuable feed input for aquaculture, or for chicken, pork or other livestock production or could also be used as a natural fertilizer for crop production. There are existing simple technologies that could ensure that more of these resources are utilized and contribute to improved nutrition and food security, directly as a component in local diets or indirectly as a feed ingredient.

It will be a great opportunity for me to learn, share and exchange ideas on best practices to utilize bycatch. Looking forward for fruitful discussions.

Best regards,

Omar

Dear José. Reducing bycatch is the main focus of the project, but is not my area of work. I am sure other colleagues in the team would be in a better position than me to give you an answer. This forum is focusing on the utilization of bycatch, in other words the reduction of discards rather than the reduction of bycatch.

Best regards, Jogeir

Dear Heins. Using longlines is much more selective than for example trawling and therefore is a method being used to reduce incidental fishing. I am sure it could be made even more selective, so hopefully somebody with more knowledge in bycatch reduction would be able to help us out on this.

Best regards,

Jogeir

 Dear Heins. Unfortunately, I do not have sufficient knowledge on this part of process. But definitely, some people in the forum could provide a more concrete answer.

Best regards, Omar

Dear Ansen. This is a very good point, how to make sure promising technologies and ideas become successful in reducing discards. Some concrete examples from the readers of this forum would be great!

Best regards,

Jogeir

Dear Ansen. Adoption and commercialization of technology play an important role in reducing bycatch through its utilization and I definitely agree with you on the difficulty of this aspect. Aside from additional costs for operation, the volume of raw materials also play a factor towards commercialization.

Best regards, Omar