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New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries

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New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Oceana released a new report exposing nine of the dirtiest fisheries in the United States. These nine fisheries combined throw away almost half of what they catch and are responsible for more than 50 percent of all reported bycatch in the U.S., injuring and killing thousands of protected and endangered species every year. In the report titled Wasted Catch: Unsolved Bycatch Problems in U.S. Fisheries, Oceana explains that despite significant progress in the last decade, the catch of non-target fish and ocean wildlife, or "bycatch," remains a significant problem in domestic fisheries. In fact, researchers have estimated that approximately 20 percent of the total U.S. catch is thrown away each year. " A n y t h i n g c a n b e b y c a t c h , " said Dominique Cano-Stocco, campaign director at Oceana. "Whether it's the thousands of sea turtles that are caught to bring you shrimp or the millions of pounds of cod and halibut that are thrown overboard after fishermen have reached their quota, bycatch is a waste of our http://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/fishing.htm ocean's resources. Bycatch also represents a real
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Page 1: New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries

New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S.Fisheries

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Oceana released a new report exposing nine of thedirtiest fisheries in the United States. These nine fisheries combined throw away almost half of whatthey catch and are responsible for more than 50 percent of all reported bycatch in the U.S., injuringand killing thousands of protected and endangered species every year.

In the report titled Wasted Catch: Unsolved Bycatch Problems in U.S. Fisheries, Oceana explainsthat despite significant progress in the last decade, the catch of non-target fish and ocean wildlife, or"bycatch," remains a significant problem in domestic fisheries. In fact, researchers have estimatedthat approximately 20 percent of the total U.S. catch is thrown away each year.

"Anythingcanbebycatch,"

said Dominique Cano-Stocco, campaign director at Oceana. "Whether it's the thousands of seaturtles that are caught to bring you shrimp or the millions of pounds of cod and halibut that arethrown overboard after fishermen have reached their quota, bycatch is a waste of ourhttp://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/fishing.htm ocean's resources. Bycatch also represents a real

Page 2: New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries

economic loss when one fisherman trashes another fisherman's catch."

Though some fishing methods are more harmful than others, researchers, fisheries managers andconservationists all agree that bycatch is generally highest in open ocean trawl, longline and gillnetfisheries. These three gear types alone are responsible for the majority of bycatch in the U.S. andare used by these nine dirty fisheries.

"Hundredsofthousandsofdolphins, whales, sharks, sea birds, sea turtles and fish needlessly die each year as a result ofindiscriminate fishing gear," said Amanda Keledjian, report author and marine scientist at Oceana."It's no wonder that bycatch is such a significant problem, with trawls as wide as football fields,longlines extending up to 50 miles with thousands of baited hooks and gillnets up to two miles long.The good news is that there are solutions - bycatch is avoidable."

Unfortunately, the bycatch problem in the U.S. is likely much worse than realized, because mostfisheries do not have adequate monitoring in place to document exactly what and how much iscaught and subsequently discarded. In some fisheries, as few as One in 100 fishing trips carryimpartial observers to document catch, while many are not monitored at all, leading to large gaps inknowledge and poor quality data.

Page 3: New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries

Nine Dirty Fisheries (based on data published by the National Marine Fisheries Service):

Southeast Snapper-Grouper Longline Fishery (66% discarded) - More than 400,000 sharks werecaptured and discarded in one yearCalifornia Set Gillnet Fishery (65% of all animals discarded) - More than 30,000 sharks and rays aswell as valuable fish were discarded as waste over three yearsSoutheast Shrimp Trawl Fishery (64% discarded) - For every pound of shrimp landed, 1 pound ofbillfish is discarded; thousands of sea turtles are killed annuallyCalifornia Drift Gillnet Fishery (63% of all animals discarded) - Almost 550 marine mammals wereentangled or killed over five yearsGulf of Alaska Flatfish Trawl Fishery (35% discarded) - More than 34 million pounds of fish werethrown overboard in one year, including 2 million pounds of halibut and 5 million pounds of codNortheast Bottom Trawl (35% discarded) - More than 50 million pounds of fish are thrown overboardevery yearMid-Atlantic Bottom Trawl Fishery (33% discarded) - Almost 200 marine mammals and 350 seaturtles were captured or killed in one yearAtlantic Highly Migratory Species Longline Fishery (23% discarded) - More than 75% of the wastedfish in this fishery are valuable tuna, swordfish and other billfish targeted by the fisheryNew England and Mid-Atlantic Gillnet Fishery (16% discarded) - More than 2,000 dolphins,porpoises and seals were captured in one year

"Reducing bycatch is a win/win for fishermen and conservationists," said Cano-Stocco. "Byeliminating wasteful and harmful fishing practices we can restore and maintain fish populations thatare essential to renewed abundance and healthy oceans, while also preventing the deaths of whales,dolphins, seals and sea turtles."

"The solution can be as simple as banning the use of drift gillnets, transitioning to proven cleanerfishing gears, requiring Turtle Excluder Devices in trawls, or avoiding bycatch hotspots," said Dr.Geoff Shester, California program director at Oceana. "Proven solutions and innovative managementstrategies can significantly reduce the unnecessary deaths of sharks, sea turtles, dolphins and other

Page 4: New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries

marine life, while maintaining vibrant fisheries."

In order to reduce the amount of wasted catch and the number of marine animals killed in U.S.fisheries, Oceana is calling on the federal government to do three things: 1) COUNT everything thatis caught in a fishery, including bycatch species; 2) CAP the amount of wasted catch in each fisheryusing scientifically based limits; and 3) CONTROL and avoid bycatch by making. The 859ci HDCombo includes a super bright LED backlit 7" display. This wide screen 800H x 480V, 16: 9 Colorprovides bright, crystal-clear images for simple viewing in harsh sunlight. The DualBeam PLUSsonar with SwitchFire has 4000 watts PTP power output, GPS Chartplotting with built inHumminbird fishfinder ContourXD map and Ethnernet Networking capabilities. Includes a unitcover, dual card reader and Immediate Access preset buttons.improvements such as using cleanerfishing gear and enhanced monitoring.

To access all of Oceana's materials, including the full report, summary of the findings, map of thenine dirty fisheries, expert interviews, b-roll, photos, infographics and more, please visitwww.oceana.org/wastedcatch.

Page 5: New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries

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Page 6: New Oceana Report Exposes Nine of the Dirtiest U.S. Fisheries

fishing tackle, Fly Saltwater fishing tackle and . Oceana wins policy victories for the oceans usingscience-based campaigns. Since 2001, we have protected over 1.2 million square miles of ocean andinnumerable sea turtles, sharks, dolphins and other sea creatures. More than 600,000 supportershave already joined Oceana. Global in scope, Oceana has offices in North, South and CentralAmerica and Europe. To learn more, please visit www.oceana.org.


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