In a region-wide effort to reduce abandoned, lost, and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), members from countries that are participants of the "Tackling Unwanted Bycatch: Towards Sustainable Solutions in Tropical Large Marine Ecosystem Fisheries (REBYC-III CLME+)" project gathered in Tobago from the 10th-14th of March.
In attendance was Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Guyana, Barbados, and St. Vincent. Discussions centered mainly around how to reduce the probability of gear being lost and how to track gear in the event that they are lost. Each country shared the results of surveys held among their fishers to understand the practices in regards to gear and how much gear was being lost in the period of a year.
The project, led on the ground in Barbados by the REBYC-III CLME+ team Dr. Kristie Alleyne, Richéda Speede, and Nia Browne, targeted the longline fleet, and revealed that abandoned and lost fishing gear was low among the fleet due to the effective marking of buoys on longlines and the manner in which gillnets are deployed. Kyle Foster, Fisheries Data Analyst attended the meeting in Tobago on their behalf to relay the information in a presentation and participated in valuable knowledge-sharing that would aid each respective country.
Kyle Foster during the workshop days, inclusive of a field trip to Castara Beach to speak with fisherfolk.