bycatch

See also: by-catch

English

Alternative forms

• by-catch

Etymology

From by- +‎ catch.

Noun

bycatch (countable and uncountable, plural bycatches)

1. Any fish (or other creatures) that are not targeted as a catch but are unintentionally caught, and often discarded back into the sea.
   • 2022, N. K. Jemisin, The World We Make, Orbit, page 107:

     Some offer him bags of bycatch—fish too small or net-mangled to sell, rays and seahorses few will want, and so on.

2. Any person, animal, or thing, captured unintentionally on camera or film.

Coordinate terms

• trash fish

Translations

unintended catch

• Dutch: bijvangst (nl) f
• Finnish: sivusaalis
• German: Beifang (de) m

Verb

bycatch (third-person singular simple present bycatches, present participle bycatching, simple past and past participle bycaught)

1. (transitive) To catch unintentionally while fishing for something else.

Further reading

• “bycatch”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.