Because of the all-encompassing, largely unregulated techniques used to catch fish -- specifically exotic and valuable ones -- U.S. fishermen bring in more than they can store, sea creatures people don't generally eat, or fish that don't meet size requirements (a group collectively labeled as "bycatch"). As a result, American fishermen throw back an average of 22 percent of their catch, many of which are injured or dead when they hit the water, according to a report by Oceana, an organization dedicated to protecting the world's oceans.
"Anything can be bycatch," said Dominique Cano-Stocco, campaign director at Oceana, in a statement. "Whether it's the thousands of sea turtles that are caught to bring you shrimp or the millions of pounds of cod and halibut that are thrown overboard after fishermen have reached their quota, bycatch is a waste of our ocean's resources."
Cano-Stocco also pointed out how bycatch hurts fishermen looking for a type thrown overboard (and thus likely ruined) by other boats. The unfortunate byproduct also compromises laws protecting overfished species.
The root of the problem is the method by which fishermen haul in their catch. Amanda Keledjian, author of Ocean's recent report and a marine scientist at the organization, described "trawls as wide as football fields, longlines extending up to 50 miles with thousands of baited hooks and gillnets up to two miles long." The net has no features to discern its prey. Thus, innocent bystanders have no chance at escape.
"Hundreds of thousands of dolphins, whales, sharks, sea birds, sea turtles and fish needlessly die each year as a result of indiscriminate fishing gear," said Keledijan. "The good news is that there are solutions - bycatch is avoidable."
By compiling their report, Oceana is already a part of one of their proposed solutions: to better track the number of bycatch each year. Still, they advise the federal government to also count the number of bycatch per fishery and impose a limit, whether daily or annually. Fisheries attempting to comply with the limit will be more open to new laws altering their fishing methods (which Oceana also proposes), most importantly "banning the use of drift gillnets, transitioning to proven cleaner fishing gears, requiring Turtle Excluder Devices in trawls, or avoiding bycatch hotspots," Dr. Geoff Shester, California program director at Oceana.
Reducing bycatch is a win/win for fishermen and conservationists," said Cano-Stocco. "By eliminating wasteful and harmful fishing practices we can restore and maintain fish populations that are essential to renewed abundance and healthy oceans, while also preventing the deaths of whales, dolphins, seals and sea turtles."
