By Elizabeth Willoughby on
Actor Ted Danson's recent op-ed on Huffington Post says Oceana's new report reveals there is a staggering amount of marine life caught by fisheries as bycatch that is discarded, which he says is a daily waste of many tons of edible fish.
“Fishermen usually target one type of seafood, a specific type of fish,” says Danson, “but depending upon the type of fishing gear they use, they often catch enormous amounts of species that aren’t on their list. These animals are usually tossed overboard, injured, dying or dead.”
Some fisheries in the States end up throwing away more marine life than they keep, he says, as much as up to 66 percent, and one scallop fishery cited in the report was allowed to throw away more flounder than flounder fishermen were allowed to catch and keep.
A colossal waste, Danson offers three steps to begin reducing it: count what is caught, reduce each fishery’s bycatch limit, and use more selective fishing gear to avoid catching non-target species. He has ideas for American consumers too.
“Look for sustainable, US-caught seafood,” suggests Danson, “and consult existing reference guides to avoid species caught with gillnets, longlines and trawls, which have high levels of bycatch. Help us put an end to the waste, and keep our fisheries healthy and our oceans abundant.”
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