Bycatch rates observed during more than 1400 trawl sets off Mauritania, Northwest Africa, are shown to have been considerable during the past 4 years,

with high animal abundance in Summer when the Northwest African shelf is occupied by subtropical water. We demonstrate the urgency

for bycatch reduction and evaluate the use of species-selective gear, a conservation method immediately available and immediately effective

in waters fished through international access agreements. A modification tested in commercial trawls during the observer program guides

pelagic megafauna deflected by a filter to an escape tunnel along the bottom of the trawl. This “excluder” reduces bycatch mortality of the

most vulnerable megafauna species by at least 40–100% (Fisheries Research 78 [2006] 186–195).

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