Seal socks are a novel, experimental device which could be used to mitigate seal bycatch in trap fisheries. The seal sock is a cylindrical net which attaches onto shallow water (<2m) traps, to allow trapped seals to access the surface in order to breathe, and thus reduce bycatch mortality.
The seal sock was trialled in coastal fyke net fisheries in the Baltic Sea. The number of dead and alive seals caught in nets without seal socks (between 2008-2010) and with seal socks (between 2011-2013) were recorded. All seals bycaught in fyke nets without seal socks were found dead, whereas 70% of ringed seals and 11% of grey seals were found alive in nets with seal socks.
This page was last updated on 12.02.21.
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