Ending the Squander of Our Seas

An EJF/WildAid programme to reduce bycatch in fisheries

• Trawlers - used to fish for shrimp (and other species) commercially. It is a "catch-all" technique that involves dragging large, fine-mesh nets along the seabed or through deepwaters. Shrimp trawlers, particularly those in the tropics, can catch over 400 marine species in their nets. Tropical shrimp fisheries typically take 10 kilos of bycatch for every 1 kilo of shrimp. Currently, tens of millions of tonnes of bycatch are taken by shrimp trawl fisheries worldwide each year, most of which is discarded. Shrimp fisheries alone are responsible for 27.3% of the world's discarded catch, despite producing less than 2% of global seafood.
  [Download EJF's report on trawl fisheries, Squandering the Seas]
  
  
• Driftnets - used illegally, since a UN Moratorium banning their use came into force, these "walls of death" entrap any animal that swims into them. An estimated 85% of animals caught in driftnets are thrown back into the sea, dead or dying. In the Mediterranean, some fishing fleets continue to use driftnets illegally to catch valuable swordfish, tuna and other species. Morocco for example, with 177 illegal fishing vessels, has been described as "the most lethal for Mediterranean marine biodiversity". A recent study found that four boats alone killed a total of 237 dolphins, 498 blue sharks, 542 shortfin makos, 464 thresher sharks and 46 loggerhead turtles, along with 2,990 swordfish (the target catch).
  [See EJF's campaign against IUU fishing]
  
  
• Longlines - incidentally capture huge numbers of sea birds, sea turtles and sharks, which either swallow baited hooks and drown, or are snagged on the lines. In the year 2000, longline fishermen from 40 nations set at least 1.4 billion hooks on longlines that averaged about 40 miles long. Longline fisheries are thought to be one of the greatest threats to seabirds possibly driving several species of Albatross towards extinction. Recent global estimates suggest that 200,000 loggerhead, and 50,000 leatherback turtles are killed each year. Lines of Death details the impact of longlining in the seas around the Galapagos Islands.
  
  
• Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) - artificial or naturally-occurring floating structures that are used to attract numerous fish species, including tuna. More than half of the global tuna catch is caught using FADs, yet they can have massive levels of bycatch. Data from the Eastern Tropical Pacific indicates bycatch in tuna fisheries using FADs can be up to 50%, composed of dolphin fish, billfish, wahoo, triggerfish, barracuda, rainbow runners, sharks, rays and sea turtles. Skipjack are the main target species but increasingly large numbers of juvenile tunas - yellowfin and bigeye (the latter is classed as a "vulnerable" species by the IUCN) are also caught.
  [Read more on FADs]

1. Highlight the illegal use of driftnets in the Mediterranean.
   
2. Ensure that European fishing vessels operating in distant waters of Africa and Asia are subject to legally-binding bycatch provisions that are, at the very least, of a comparable standard to regulations governing vessels operating in European waters. What's the Catch? details the issues at stake.
   
3. Develop an International Plan of Action on Bycatch Reduction that will bring together disparate efforts and focus targeted measures for the swift reduction in this global problem. EJF will press governments to take immediate action to reduce bycatch in all fisheries.
   
4. Reduce bycatch in tropical shrimp trawl fisheries.