Empty Nets June 2014 volume 1 | Page 9

Bycatch, the incidental capture of non-target species, occurs wherever fishing is taking place. Modern fishing has evolved to catch large amounts of fish as well as everything in its path. An alarming amount of marine life such as turtles, dolphins, sharks, and juvenile fish are pulled up on board with the catch, then discarded either dead or dying back into the water. Bycatch is harmful to ecosystems by disrupting animals with injuries and deaths. It is estimated that over 300,000 small whales, dlophins, and porpoises die from entanglement in fishing nets annually, making this the largest cause of mortality for small cetaceans2.