Fishing practices needlessly ravage sea life, study says

COLUMBIA, S.C. Heaps of dead fish litter the decks of commercial trawlers each summer after boat captains pull nets from the ocean in their search for shrimp.

Sucked into the expansive shrimp nets, small fish and other marine animals are the unfortunate victims of an industry that, for decades, has dragged the sea floor to scoop up the tasty crustaceans so many diners crave.

But one conservation group says fishermen need to be more careful.

Every year, tons of marine animals across the country are accidentally caught in fishing nets and killed - a wasteful occurrence that threatens to deplete marine life, according to a report this week by Oceana. Similar problems are found when commercial anglers drop rows of hooks in the ocean to catch one type of fish, but bring in other marine animals that wind up dying needlessly, the report said.

Sharks and sea turtles are among the animals that die as fishermen try to land seafood for people's tables, according to the report, which relied on federal data. Animals caught in nets or on fishing lines while commercial boats seek other species are known as "bycatch." Oceana wants tighter limits on bycatch to help protect vulnerable species.

"Whether it's the thousands of sea turtles that are caught to bring you shrimp or the millions of pounds of cod and halibut that are thrown overboard after fishermen have reached their quota, bycatch is a waste of our ocean's resources," said Dominique Cano-Stocco, campaign director at Oceana, a national conservation group that focuses on issues involving the sea.

The study by Oceana highlights nine areas of the United States that are among the worst at killing marine life while fishing for other species. Those include fisheries that target snappers and groupers, swordfish and shrimp, according to Oceana.

The study says the Southeastern shrimp trawl fishery, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic Ocean, discards 64 percent of the marine life caught up in nets. For every pound of shrimp landed, one pound of billfish is tossed aside, according to the study. It also notes that thousands of sea turtles die annually in shrimp nets.

Shrimping is the biggest component of South Carolina's fishing industry, which isn't large by national standards but is still a notable part of the state's economy.

Each year, South Carolina's seafood harvest brings in about $25 million, federal statistics show. In addition to shrimping, fishing lands a healthy share of blue crabs and oysters, as well as snappers and groupers. Bycatch from the snapper-grouper fishery also was cited in the report as a problem.

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Fishing practices needlessly ravage sea life, study says