Frequently Asked Questions
What is bycatch?
Bycatch, or dirty fishing, refers to all kinds of ocean wildlife - like fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, sea birds and corals - that fishing operations catch and throw back to sea, usually dead or dying, because they do not want or cannot keep them.
Why is dirty fishing a problem?
Each year, commerical fishing worldwide wastes more than 16 billion pounds of fish and kills hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, marine mammals, and seabirds. Dirty-fishing has driven various species to the brink of extinction, destroys marine habitats, and disturbs marine ecosystems on a global scale. If dirty fishing is allowed to continue unchecked, the health of our oceans will be jeopardized.
What is Oceana's solution to the dirty-fishing problem?
In a nutshell, the three C's: Count, Cap, and Control. Oceana is calling on the federal government to address dirty-fishing as is required under existing law and immediately implement these three critical measures to end wasteful fishing practices.
COUNT: Require adequate numbers of fishery observers on fishing
vessels to obtain better data on dirty-fishing.
CAP: Improve fisheries management by including mortality from bycatch in estimates of total mortality, and also require meaningful limits or "hard caps" on total fish mortality and bycatch mortality for all fisheries.
CONTROL: Develop, approve and implement bycatch assessment and reduction plans that include the above measures before allowing fishing.
Go to the Solutions page for more information on this topic.
What are fishery observers?
Fishery observers are independent scientists who work on-board commercial fishing boats to count the fish and sea life that is caught and thrown back to sea, usually dead or dying.
Go to the Observer Programs and Resources & Reports to find out more about this topic.
Who is responsible for managing America's fisheries?
At the national level, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which sits under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the Secretary of Commerce, oversees all U.S. fisheries. At the regional level, there are eight regional fisheries management councils that develop fishery management plans for their geographical regions.
What is a Fisheries Management Plan (FMP)?
It is a long-term plan developed by a regional fishery and the Secretary of Commerce to manage fish and shellfish resources in their geographical regions.
