A first national report by NOAA on bycatch — fish that are caught accidentally, then are not landed or used — has found that 17 percent of the fish caught commercially in 2005 were wasted.
In New England, the bycatch rate was 14 percent.
The 528-page report, motivated by statutory obligations set forth in the U.S. Endangered Species Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the 2006 reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, has been in preparation since 2006, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The figures are estimates, NOAA emphasized, but "the effort is the first to compile and collect regional data about U.S. commercial fisheries into one nationwide report."
"Fisheries managers, the fishing industry and the environmental community share the goal of preventing and reducing bycatch, which is an important part of ending overfishing and ensuring sustainable marine resources," said Richard Merrick, chief scientist at the National Marine Fisheries Service.
Read the complete story by Richard Gaines in The Gloucester Times