Commercial Fishing's Bycatch

I originally was going to write about the sustainable fisheries that feed our country but I found a topic that is just as important. Bycatch, is the non-targeted fish, reptiles, marine mammals and seabirds that are caught accidentally during the commercial fishing process and can cause species decline. Bycatch is responsible for catching and killing a very large number of sea creatures. There are ongoing efforts to change this in most of the commercial fishing industry. For more than 40 years, NOAA has been changing the regulations for fishing practices to successfully reduce the amount of bycatch (1). The push to reduce the amount of bycatch has been a result of things such as:

·         Prohibiting nations who exceed the limit of chinook salmon are prohibited to fish the rest of the season,

·         TED’s (Turtle Excluder Device),

·         Changing fishing drift gill net depths and adding pingers to alert animals there is a net to reduce whale and dolphin bycatch,

·         Adding streamers to ropes to scare seabirds away from fishing lines,

·         Circle hooks reduced the amount of turtles being caught,

·         Weaker hooks prevent catching bluefin tuna 

·         LED lighting to illuminate a path of escape for Columbia River smelt

These are just some of the examples of the successful methods that are presently being used to achieve less bycatch around the world (1). Legislation such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act, Magnuson – Stevens Act and the Endangered Species Act are the backbone for regulating bycatch in my opinion.

The amount of bycatch that is killed daily is still too high no matter what the species is that has been accidentally caught. When the bycatch is caught and pulled onto boats it is most likely returned back into the water with the largest percentage of the non targeted species is already dead or almost dead and most likely will not survive (6). 

There is an estimated 300,000 plus dolphins, porpoises and whales killed from being tangled in fishing nets every year (2). These mammals are dying at a rate of one every two minutes and has been identified as the single largest cause of mortality among cetaceans (5).Sea turtles like the endangered loggerheads, green turtles and leatherbacks are especially in danger of becoming extinct. There are efforts like the TED's are being used to reduce the amount of bycatch of sea turtles (4). Some of the species that are facing extinction most likely will become extinct if nothing is done to better our commercial fishing practices (2). There are species other than sea turtles that are extremely close to extinction some are cetaceans as well as some sharks plus many other species.   

According to Oceana.org in 2011 the total bycatch for just the United States was close to TWO MILLION pounds. There are attempts being made to monitor the amount of bycatch on ships, this is done by placing observers on ships to watch as the fishing operation is taking place and they are not part of the ship’s crew. The observers present on fishing vessels in some fisheries was around one percent and found that less than five percent of United States fisheries accurately report bycatch (3).

A good example to show how the amount of bycatch can be so large is the shrimp industry. Shrimp is one of America’s favorite meals, it is caught by using trawling nets that are dragged behind large boats. Worldwide these shrimp trawlers average catching 5.7 pounds of bycatch per every 1 pound of the targeted shrimp and in some areas it is as high as pounds of bycatch per 1 pound of shrimp (6). These numbers are horrifying to me and should be to anyone who reads this. I personally never have seen any statement on the packaging stating that the shrimp I purchased was “bycatch safe” maybe it is on there but does not catch my eye when I am purchasing it or I have never seen a restaurant post a sign stating the “all you can eat” shrimp dinner has not harmed any other marine wildlife during the harvest of the shrimp used for the special. The picture below shows the percentages of bycatch from all types of fishing that is discarded by United States fisheries.

 Photo from Oceana website: bycatch-oceana-report-2

I feel that most people do not think about this issue, to be honest I never think about it, except when I buy tuna, I do make sure it is dolphin safe tuna. I don’t know if I would have ever even thought about bycatch if it were not for becoming a wild life student because it is not part of my everyday life. No I am not going to quit eating meat and fish, but I know I will take a better look at how it is harvested before I make a decision to purchase the seafood or not to purchase it. I believe that most people would never kill or harm a seabird or sea turtle or cetacean personally or intentionally but most people do not think about how the food that they purchase at the local grocery store is harvested. Maybe if they were better informed they would want and push for different fishing techniques and regulations to prevent the amount of bycatch killed. I feel that more effort needs to be done to minimize the amount of bycatch which may lead to higher prices for our seafood that we consume but it will help all species of marine wildlife. It will have to also help the sustainable fisheries as it will keep from depleting a food source for many marine ecosystems. If we do not change the commercial fishing techniques to reduce the amount of bycatch, will there be any thing left in our oceans for future generations to enjoy as a food source or just simply sitting on a beach or boat watching whales or porpoises or sea turtles or even an albatross?  

I hope that anyone that has read this takes a moment to think about how much more needs to be done to reduce the amount of useless killing of marine creatures the next time they are setting down to enjoy a seafood dinner.

By R.Krauss

(1)National Oceanic and Atmosperic Administration. Bycatch. http://noaa.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index. web. Accessed 4/20/17.

(2)World Wildlife Fund. https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/bycatch. 2017. Web. Accessed 4/20/17.

(3)Oceana. Reducing Bycatch. http://oceana.org/our-campaigns/bycatch/campaign. Web. Accessed 4/21/17.

(4) World Wildlife Fund. Protecting Turtles from the threat of Bycatch. https://www.worldwildlife.org/initiatives/protecting-turtles-from-the-threat-of-bycatch. Web. Accessed 4/24/17

(5) World Wildlife Fund. Bycatch Victims. http://wwf.panda.org/about_our _earth/blue_planet/problems/problems_fishing/fisheries_management/bycatch222/bycatch_victims/. Web. Accessed 4/24/17.

(6) Koch, Vernique, 20 Lbs Of Bycatch Per Pound Of Shrimp, Fish Navy Films. 5/30/13.