Scientists urge managers to limit use of destructive fis...( Denver CO Research presented today at...)

Denver, CO Research presented today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting shows that many fishermen, conservationists, and academics, despite frequent conflict over fisheries issues, agree that bottom trawling a common method to catch shrimp, fish, and other bottom dwelling sea life is the most ecologically damaging fishing gear. Scientists presented findings that, for the first time, document and rank the full suite of ecological impacts associated with all commercial fishing gears used in the United States. Scientists urged managers, fishers, and environmentalists to recognize that how we fish may be as important to the future of marine resources as how much we fish.

Ironically, even though scientific data demonstrate the collapse of fisheries around the world, destructive fishing practices carry on out of sight and, hence, out of mind. Nearly one quarter of the world's catch is thrown back into the sea dead or dying each year because the fishing gear cannot discriminate between target catch and other animals that are undersized, unmarketable, or not worth the price of bringing to shore. Approximately 2.3 billion pounds of sea life were discarded in the U.S. in 2000 alone, and thousands of the ocean's most charismatic species including sea turtles, marine mammals, sharks, and seabirds, are killed each year by fishing nets, lines, and hooks. These deaths have implications for both marine populations and marine food webs. "Considering the documented decline in global fisheries, this kind of waste is unacceptable. But because this travesty is unseen by most people, it continues," says Larry Crowder of Duke University.

Experts agree that bottom trawls are one of the worst offenders, entrapping vast numbers of non-targeted animals. "The first time I was on a trawler, I was appalled to see that for every pound of shrimp caught there were 20 pounds of sharks, rays, crabs, and starfish killed. The shri
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Contact: Jessica Brown
jbrown@seaweb.org
202-497-8375
SeaWeb
16-Feb-2003

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