Gillnets: Gear Design, Fishing Performance and Conservation Challenges

Worldwide, the gillnet is one of the most important fishing gears for harvesting a variety of species in the sea and in freshwater. Gillnets are efficient, catching a diverse range of species, and are highly size selective. However, gillnets have limited species selectivity and sometimes catch non-target species; birds; and megafauna species including cetaceans, turtles, and sharks. Lost gillnets often continue to fish, a situation called “ghostfishing”, wasting valuable resources. This paper describes basic components of a gillnet and its fishing mechanisms, and reviews catch efficiency, selectivity and related conservation issues.