Oceana Report Names Nine 'Dirty" US Fisheries, Highlights Huge Bycatch Waste

[n2doc]

Ocean conversation group Oceana has named nine "dirty" fisheries that, combined, throw away more than half of what they catch and are responsible for more than half of US bycatch. Bycatch is wasted edible fish and drowned animals that are thrown back into the sea.

"Anything can be bycatch," Dominique Cano-Stocco, campaign director at Oceana, said 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. Bycatch also represents a real economic loss when one fisherman trashes another fisherman's catch."

Oceana's report, "Wasted Catch: Unsolved Bycatch Problems in US Fisheries," reveals between 17-22 percent of US catch is discarded every year. US bycatch could amount to up to 2 billion pounds every year.

The group said that some fisheries discard more fish at sea than they bring to port and that adequate monitoring of fishing operations' discarding practices is not in place.

"One in 100 fishing trips carry impartial observers to document catch, while many are not monitored at all, leading to large gaps in knowledge and poor quality data," Oceana reported.

more

http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/6406/20140321/oceana-report-names-nine-dirty-us-fisheries-highlights-huge-bycatch-waste.htm