Evaluating bycatch avoidance in the US Atlantic Sea Scallop fishery

The effectiveness of bycatch avoidance programs relies on changes in fishing behavior in response to spatiotemporal information on bycatch patterns. We evaluated effectiveness of a voluntary bycatch avoidance program in the US Sea Scallop Placopecten magellanicus fishery over the course of four years based on fishing behavior relative to bycatch advisories. We compared results from self‐reported catch to data from a mandatory observer program for participating and non‐participating vessels in the bycatch avoidance program. Significant associations between bycatch advisories and fishing locations indicated bycatch avoidance behavior, while accounting for the effect of sea scallop density on fishing location decisions. Evidence of avoidance behavior was stronger in earlier years of the program and varied spatially. Decreasing avoidance behavior coincided with revised bycatch management measures, which appear to have altered the incentives for bycatch avoidance. We found differences in the fishing behavior of fishing captains who participated in the bycatch avoidance program when Yellowtail Flounder Limanda ferruginea bycatch was perceived to threaten economic yield due to fishery closures. This case study addresses the analytical challenge of detecting bycatch avoidance behavior and relative effectiveness for bycatch mitigation.