Stealth gear is fishing gear and bait that has been camouflaged or modified in order to deceive target catch and wildlife bycatch species. In the case of target catch, the gear is made less detectable, whereas in the case of wildlife, the bait is made less detectable, therefore reducing the likelihood of wildlife predating on hooked bait.
Stealth gear encompasses a number of different measures which are individually outlined in the Hub, such as blue-dyed bait.
Trials to reduce the visibility of bait to seabirds have produced varying results – see bait colour.
This page was last updated on 12.02.21.
Explore the Bycatch Mitigation Hub to find possible measures to reduce bycatch