Brad Sewell
Senior attorney in NRDC's New York office, specializing in the protection of Atlantic coastal and ocean resources

Why is bycatch such a threat to our oceans?

Bycatch is a principal cause of overfishing and can harm marine ecosystems. In the New England groundfish fishery, which includes cod, haddock, and various flounder species, and the mid-Atlantic squid fishery, it is estimated that more fish-tens of thousands of metric tons each year-are discarded at sea than are landed and sold. Some species are seriously depleted by bycatch, like the iconic Georges Bank cod, which is at only 15 percent of healthy levels and is not projected to be rebuilt until 2055. Bycatch has also decimated populations of key forage fish in the region, such as butterfish and river herring.

Are we actually in danger of driving some species to extinction?

Bycatch has caused dramatic declines in sea turtles, seabirds, many species of elasmobranches (i.e., sharks, rays, skates, and sawfishes), and even marine mammals. In the past year, NRDC has requested that the federal government list both the Hawaiian population of false killer whales and the Atlantic sturgeon on the Endangered Species Act list, principally because of the threat posed by bycatch.

But bycatch isn't a problem in recreational fisheries, right?

Not exactly. It's true that bycatch mortality and the range of nontarget species caught are generally lower in recreational fisheries. And hook-and-release needs to be part of our sustainable fishing future. But for some species, the level of depletion has become so severe and the number of recreational anglers so large that recreational bycatch continues to drive the population downward. In the South Atlantic, for instance, some areas will need to be temporarily closed to all fishing, including recreational, to halt the decline of red snapper.

What's the solution?

We need to treat bycatch in the same way as we treat other types of catch. In 2006 Congress reinforced the prohibition against overfishing by requiring science-based catch limits. In the application of the law, bycatch limits must be set and enforced, which will increase the incentives to modify fishing methods and gear to reduce bycatch. We will also need to do a much better job of counting the fish (and other forms of marine life) that are caught, and not just the portion that is sold. Catch shares programs may make it easier to fund this by improving profitability, but such programs can also increase the discarding of unwanted species and will need to include 100 percent observer coverage.