Gulf of Mexico fisheries are among the “dirtiest fisheries” in new report

The Gulf feels the impact of fishing policies.

Fishing frequently exacts some collateral damage—other marine wildlife besides the targeted fish species get ensnared in the fishnets and traps. This “bycatch,” as conservationists call it, is a bigger problem at some fisheries than others. Oceana, a marine-conservation nonprofit, has quantified the bycatch incidence fishery by fishery across the United States and identified the worst offenders in a new report, “Wasted Catch.”
The Gulf of Mexico is home to several of the “dirtiest fisheries,” the report’s unflattering name for fisheries where bycatch rates are highest. The number-one spot went to the Southeast Shrimp Trawl Fishery, which discards 229 million pounds of bycatch from its boats every year. The Southeast Snapper-Grouper Longline Fishery took second place with 6.4 million pounds of bycatch discarded annually. Another fishery that runs through the Gulf of Mexico and into the Atlantic and targets tuna, swordfish, and shark, is in eighth place.
Plenty of fisheries beyond the Gulf stand out for heavy bycatch, as well. The Northeast Bottom Trawl Fishery, with 50 million pounds of bycatch; the Gulf of Alaska Flatfish Trawl Fishery, with 34.5 million; and the Mid-Atlantic Bottom Trawl Fishery, with 9.4 million; also made the top-nine list.
The report relied on data from the National Bycatch Report, which the National Marine Fisheries Service published in September 2011 and then re-published with updated information in December 2013. Oceana analyzed the data from both editions.
Bycatch that is thrown back into the water is usually maimed or dead, and as such, fishing can put many more species in jeopardy than the ones that the fisheries are actively trying to catch. Sea turtles are frequent bycatch victims at the Gulf shrimp trawl fishery, for instance. Oceana’s report identifies that fishery as the cause of about 50,000 sea turtle deaths every year.
High bycatch also upsets food chains, as the wildlife that are killed include predators that keep other sea-faring populations in check. The Southeast Snapper-Grouper Longline Fishery’s discards, which amounted to 30% of all the fish that it had captured, included large numbers of bluefin tuna, swordfish, and sharks.
It is possible to reduce bycatch by using modified fishing equipment, or by restricting fishing activity during certain times of the year. Turtle-excluder devices, for example, can reduce turtle deaths when fitted onto shrimp trawls.
In February, Oceana and several allied environmental groups wrote to the National Marine Fisheries Service announcing that they intended to sue to require the Gulf of Mexico’s fisheries to install turtle-excluder devices onto their shrimp trawls. Meanwhile, the federal agency has proposed new regulations that would prohibit long-line fishing in certain areas of the Gulf in April and May, the months when bluefin tuna come to the Gulf to spawn.

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