Prohibiting the discard of certain bycatch may be in the future for U.S. marine fisheries managed by NOAA
In recent years, nations (other than the U.S.), have taken
steps to prohibit the discarding of marine fishery bycatch. The amount of seafood discarded back into the
oceans from fishing vessels worldwide is approximately 10% of the total annual
catch with the trawl fisheries for shrimp and demersal finfish accounting for
over 50% of the discards (these two types of fishing methods represent approximately
22% of the total annual worldwide catch).
Canada, Norway, Iceland, New Zealand and the EU have
implemented actions to prohibit the discarding of certain bycatch in their
marine fisheries management plans.
While the U.S. has not yet taken actions to implement
similar fishery management plans prohibiting discards, NOAA has recently
released a draft Action
Plan for Fish Release Mortality Science. In the simplest of terms, part of NOAA’s draft
action plan is to determine which bycatch species cannot survive after being discarded
back into the sea.
By doing so, NOAA may
identify a seafood resource that can be utilized and therefore not wasted. If this happens, the U.S. will join with other
nations in not wasting a valuable marine source of protein that can be used
directly for human consumption or indirectly by being utilized for feedstocks
for both aquaculture and agriculture.
The bottom line is that in a hungry world with an expanding
population, it is unconscionable to waste a food resource such as bycatch that
stands little chance of surviving as discards.
Not wasting the wondrous bounty from our seas is definitely
a sustainability goal that all nations of the world need to support.
Now is the time for international cooperation
to reduce bycatch and fully utilize seafood species that cannot survive as
discards.
Such cooperation needs to
address fisheries in both EEZs and on the high seas.
A
world population that is expanding toward 10 billion by the year 2050 needs to
incorporate actions to eliminate food waste as part of their food security
strategy. Prohibiting certain fishery
discards should be a part of such action plans.
Hopefully NOAA will implement in the near future some sort of discard ban to prevent seafood waste based on the best science and conscience.
Sincerely yours,
David Glaubke
Director of Sustainability Initiatives
Sea Port Products Corp.
