17 



BYCATCH 



Many, if not most, current fishing methods 

 catch nontarget species or unmarketable 

 sizes of marine life. This inadvertent or 

 accidental catch is referred to as "by- 

 catch." When the bycatch is used by the 

 fishery without jeopardizing other more 

 beneficial uses of the resource, it is not a 

 concern. But bycatch is an increasing con- 

 cern when it results in the following prob- 

 lems: 



1) Discarding of large quantities of fish 

 that are of low value because of their spe- 

 cies or small size. This is particularly true 

 when the small fish are a valuable species 

 in their own right. For example, the dis- 

 carded bycatch of finfish in the southeast 

 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico shrimp fisher- 

 ies is believed to be several times larger 

 than the shrimp catch, including billions of 

 juveniles of valuable commercial and re- 

 creational species such as croaker, spot, 

 and drum. 



2) Discarding of economically valuable 

 components of the catch to comply with 

 regulations that are intended either to con- 

 serve the nontarget species or to reduce 

 user-group conflicts (discussed below). 

 For example, Bering Sea trawl Fisheries for 

 walleye pollock and yellowfin sole are not 

 allowed to keep Pacific halibut, sablefish, 



salmon, and king and tanner crabs that are 

 taken simultaneously with the targeted 

 species. As a result, large quantities of 

 valuable finfish and shellfish are wasted. To 

 reduce discarding, it may also be neces- 

 sary to limit the catch of target species 

 below their potential yield. 



3) Mortality to marine mammals and 

 endangered species such as sea turtles. 

 Seals and large and small cetaceans are 

 taken as bycatch in many fisheries, includ- 

 ing gillnet fisheries of New England, trawl 

 fisheries for Atlantic mackerel, gillnet fish- 

 eries off the west coast and Alaska, and 

 trawl fisheries off Alaska. Sea turtles are 

 primarily taken as bycatch in southeast 

 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico shrimp fisher- 

 ies, but the amount of turtle bycatch has 

 been greatly reduced by regulations that 

 require shrimpers to use turtle excluder 

 devices (TED's) in their nets. 



Another form of discarding (although it 

 does not result from bycatch) that has 

 raised some concern results from the prac- 

 tice of disposing of low value portions of 

 animals and only retaining select body 

 parts of greater value. Examples of this 

 practice are "shark finning" in the Atlantic 

 and roe fisheries on spawning walleye pol- 

 lock in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska. 



USER CONFLICTS 



Many competing special interest groups 

 want to share in the benefits from living 

 marine resources. This results in conflicts 

 between components of the commercial 

 fishing industry, such as inshore and off- 

 shore vessels off Alaska; between com- 

 mercial and recreational fisheries, such as 

 those in the southeast for Spanish and king 



mackerel; and between utilizing fisheries 

 resources and ensuring total protection of 

 marine mammals and endangered species. 

 In many cases, the resolution of these 

 conflicts is controversial and may result in 

 inefficiencies in fishing operations, discard- 

 ing, or the loss of opportunities to harvest 

 part of the potential yield. 



INSUFFICIENT 

 INFORMATION ON THE 

 STATUS OF LIVING 

 MARINE RESOURCES 



The status of utilization is unknown for 34% 

 (Table 3) of the fish species or species 

 groups considered in this document. The 

 trend in abundance is unknown for 57% 

 (Table 2) of the marine mammal and sea 

 turtle species. Even for the species where 

 status or the trend in abundance is known, 

 the information is often imprecise. There 

 are also large gaps in fundamental under- 

 standing of the LMR populations and of the 

 ecosystems of which they are a part. 



Many potential benefits from LMR's may 

 not be achievable because of insufficient 



information. When the status of LMR's is 

 unknown or imprecisely known, it is nec- 

 essary to use them conservatively to guard 

 against accidental depletion. The Gulf of 

 Alaska pollock fishery is an example of this 

 situation. Lack of precision in assessments 

 of fishery resources often has been used to 

 argue that the evidence of overutilization 

 was not strong enough to justify restricting 

 a fishery. This argument has led to the 

 depletion of many stocks (e.g., most tradi- 

 tional New England groundfish and floun- 

 ders). 



