MARINE MAGAZINE 2014 JUNE EDITION
Humans catch 2-3 times more fish than what the oceans can sustainably support19. Various aquatic ecosystems are declining as their survival becomes threatened by bycatching. Billions of unwanted fish and other marine species like dolphins, turtles, sharks, and coral reefs are dying off due to this destructive fishing practice19. Fishermen throw away unwanted fish back into the ocean and other species that were caught in the nets because they have limited space on their boats and only the higher price fish can stay21. Most of these fish and marine species that are thrown back into the waters are dead on sight. There is so much waste that could be prevented! For the Southeast Shrimp Trawl Fishery, they discard 64% of its catch and for the Southeast Snapper-Grouper Longline fishery they discard 66% of its catch18. Around more than 400,00 sharks are thrown back into the ocean every year and many die before they reach the waters again18. In fact, in every one pound of shrimp that is caught, around six pounds of other species are discarded21. If fisheries continue to use this unsustainable fishing practice, our ocean’s waters will lose its biodiversity and lose extremely important ecosystems in the ocean. Even fishermen do not like the bycatch process because it waste time and wears out streamer lines that the fishermen use to catch what they actually need21.
OUR SOLUTION
Other techniques need to be implemented to get rid of such unfortunate situations that kill off thousands of extremely important species before it is too late. Various fishing techniques that could replace current methods are line fishing and hand tossed net fishing since they catch smaller quantities of fish and can be pulled out from the ocean quickly. That way, the potential bycatch can be removed and saved before they die in the nets. Line fishing also has specific luers that only catch what is needed which could prevent deaths of many unwanted species7. Bycatch is wasteful, unnecessary and extremely preventable so change must be implemented as soon as possible. Stop with bycatching and start saving our ocean waters!
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