bycatch

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See also: by-catch

English

Alternative forms

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

Translations

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.