As you tuck into a fish fillet or burger, the last thing on your mind is probably where the fish came from and how it was caught. And yet, these questions are at the very heart of the future supply of seafood. So what’s the problem?
With every vessel that returns to port with a hold full of fish comes a large amount of species incidentally killed in fishing gears. In other words, while fishing boats are picky about the fish they want to catch, they tend to be less selective about what they actually catch. This is how a lot of the unwanted fish, dead or dying, gets thrown overboard back into the sea--a shocking waste of life. This is the grim story of bycatch.
The impacts of such fishing practices are disastrous for sea life. Marine turtles and sharks are recurring victims of bycatch, which has contributed to their decline in the Coral Triangle and elsewhere. In shrimp fisheries, juvenile 'trash fish' can outweigh the catch of targeted shrimp by more than 10 to 1. But generally, any kind of fisheries method can result in bycatch:
Longline fisheries: Marine turtles and seabirds are caught when the gear is dispersed or hauled in. At normal fishing depths, it is sharks, billfishes and and juvenile tunas which are the victims.
Trawl fisheries: Large nets dragged along the seabed catch almost everything on their path. At shallow depths, bottom trawls also catch marine turtles.
Gillnet fisheries: This type of gear can be set at any depth, posing a major risk for marine turtles, whales and seabirds among others.
But no need to shun your seafood quite yet--indeed, there are some good news. A new kind of fishing hook, the circle-shaped hook (“C” hook), has been demonstrated to be much more selective. In fact, replacing traditional "J" hooks by “C” hooks can reduce bycatch rates of longline fishing by up to 90%. In some cases, such as tuna fisheries, “C” hooks can even increase target catch rates. Meanwhile, devices exist that allows turtles caught in shrimp trawl nets to slip back into the open ocean and avoid a slow death.
These tools are slowly becoming more common in the Coral Triangle, although so much more work needs to be done. WWF, working with seafood companies and governments, is promoting their use to make them mainstream in the industry. So that one day we may all tuck into our seafood without having to worry about how it was caught.
Your donation to the MyCoralTriangle campaign will support efforts to end bycatch in the Coral Triangle. Also make sure you download your local Seafood Guide to ensure that you choose species that are not threatened in the wild. (fully copied from WWF MyCoralTriangle website)
Do something, help the Coral Triangle if you still want to eat fresh seafood in the future!
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