Dirty Fishing Solutions
Under existing laws, the federal government is required to reduce dirty fishing. These laws include the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Yet, nearly a decade after Congress enacted the most recent laws addressing dirty fishing, the steps taken by the National Marine Fisheries Service -- the federal agency responsible for the management of U.S. fisheries -- have been grossly inadequate.
There are practical ways to reduce dirty fishing. Over the past several decades, managers, scientists, and the fishing industry have identified strategies to avoid and reduce dirty-fishing. These strategies include gear improvements, changes to fishing practices, and time/area closures. However, the Fisheries Service's fragmented and unfocused implementation of these measures has produced few results.
Oceana is calling on the federal government to Count, Cap, and Control dirty fishing across all of America's fisheries to protect our ocean resources.
COUNT
Each fishery should have observers to record bycatch levels. On-board fishery observers are critical to obtaining accurate scientific data about the scope and magnitude of dirty fishing. Fishery observers need to be present on enough fishing trips to provide statistically reliable estimates in all fisheries. Until fisheries-specific data indicate more appropiate levels, research has shown that observer coverage levels should be in the 20 to 50 percent range, with higher levels in fisheries that interact with rare species (e.g. sea turtles, marine mammals, etc.)
CAP
Fisheries managers should set real limits, or "hard caps," on the catch of marine life, including fish, marine mammals, sea birds and endangered species. The following are Oceana's recommendations of how these caps should be determined.
- Commercially targeted species - Scientific advisory bodies should develop hard limits for commercially targeted species by applying precautionary fishing mortality rates to the most current stock assessment or biomass estimate.
- Marine mammals - Fishery managers should determine the proportion of total takes for which each sector is responsible and then allocate that proportion of the potential biological removal (PBR) to that sector.
- Endangered and threatened species - For fishing sectors that are the subject of biological opinions, the incidental take limit should be the sector's cap for the species in question.
- Other species - For non-target species or other species identified as necessitating a cap, fishery managers should examine available data and either set a precautionary cap or collect observer data to determine appropriate levels of fishing mortality.
CONTROL
- Fishing should not be allowed to occur in fisheries that do not have monitoring for dirty-fishing and relevant management plans.
- Hard caps on fishing mortality must be enforced. When the caps are reached, fishing should stop for the given sector and time period to which they apply.
- Cleaner fishing should be rewarded by shifting fishing opportunities to sectors that use gear that catch less bycatch.
