A 14-year time series of marine megafauna bycatch in the Italian midwater pair trawl fishery

Fisheries bycatch is recognised as a global threat to vulnerable marine megafauna and historical data can contribute to quantify the magnitude of the impact. Here, we present a collection of three datasets generated between 2006 and 2019 by a monitoring programme on marine megafauna bycatch in one of the main Italian fisheries, the northern central Adriatic midwater pair trawl fishery. The three datasets consist of: (i) monitored fishing effort; (ii) bycatch and biological data of dolphins, sea turtles and elasmobranchs; (iii) and dolphin sightings. Some information included in these datasets has already proved to provide a unique opportunity to estimate total incidental capture of species of conservation concern and trends of their relative abundance over time in the northern - central Adriatic Sea. These datasets are expected to be considered by different end users to improve the conservation of species and fishery management approaches to assess the impact of a fishery on species of conservation concern.

Automated summary

This study utilizes three datasets collected between 2006 and 2019 to assess the impact of fisheries bycatch on marine megafauna in one of the main Italian fisheries. The datasets provide valuable insights on estimating total incidental capture and trends in relative abundance over time for species of conservation concern, contributing to improved species conservation and fishery management.