British Sign Language Glossaries of Curriculum Terms

BSL Environmental Science Glossary - Bycatch definition

Definition: When fishermen go to catch certain fish, they may inadvertently catch other fish or marine animals which also die eventually. For example, there may be a large catch of tuna, but at the bottom of the net there could be a turtle trapped there. This happens quite often and as the fishermen are unable to get to the bottom of the net to cut the turtle out, they have to leave it there. When they take in the catch onto the boat, they then throw the empty net back into the water along with the entrapped turtle. As the turtle is unable to free itself, it cannot swim properly and so eventually drowns.