Pay-to-release program reduces shark deaths, but backfires in some cases

Pay-to-release program reduces shark deaths, but backfires in some cases

Researchers behind an incentive-based fisheries program in Indonesia have reported a drop in shark and ray bycatch, but also warned of an unexpected rise in the intentional capture of these threatened species. The program pays some small-scale fishers in Aceh province, on the island of Sumatra, and on Lombok Island to release any live hammerhead sharks (genus Sphyrna) and wedgefish (genus Rhynchobatus) that they catch. While the initiative, desi…