Conservationist aims to help seabirds and sea turtles with new fellowship

An Imperial scientist has received a prestigious fellowship to reduce the number of marine species being harmed accidentally by commercial fishing. EJ Milner-Gulland, Professor of Conservation Science in the Department of Life Sciences, will undertake a three-year, 150,000 USD project designed to reduce bycatch; the incidental taking of fish and other marine species by commercial fisheries. She is one of five scientists from around the world to be awarded a 2015 Pew Marine Fellowship, announced this week by the Pew Foundation. Although the fishing industry has made great strides in reducing bycatch through the use of simple technologies such as turtle excluders, many animals such as sharks, rays, seabirds and sea turtles remain at risk. To address this issue, Professor Milner-Gulland is planning to develop ways to reduce bycatch by working with communities that are involved with fishing. There are already many technologies that can minimise bycatch, such as a curtain of streamers called a Tori line, which can be used behind a fishing boat to scare away birds and which can reduce albatross mortality by up to 90 percent. However, in order for such measures to work they have to be used by those carrying out the fishing.