The Ocean Conservancy
www.oceanconservancy.com
NOAA FISHERIES REQUIRES BYCATCH REDUCTION
FOR SHRIMP TRAWLS IN THE EASTERN GULF OF
MEXICO
Improvements in fishery management will help entire
Gulf ecosystem
Posted: January 9, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Tom McCann, Director of Media Relations
St. Petersburg, Florida - Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) approved management
measures to further reduce shrimp trawl bycatch in the Gulf of Mexico. The
measures require that Bycatch Reduction Devices (BRDs) be used in most
shrimp trawl nets fishing in the waters of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. A similar
requirement has existed for the Western Gulf of Mexico since 1998. "Shrimp
trawl bycatch" consists of fish and other marine life that is caught
unintentionally in shrimp nets and are thrown back or otherwise discarded.
According to NOAA Fisheries, the best available science indicates that on
average gulf-wide, bycatch rates in the federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico
average four pounds of marine life to one pound of shrimp. "This means that
approximately 80 percent of what shrimp trawls catch by weight in federal
waters is not shrimp," said Marianne Cufone, Esq., Regional Program Manager
for The Ocean Conservancy. "Such a large amount of bycatch can harm the
whole ecosystem. For example, juvenile red snapper are frequently caught and
killed in shrimp trawl nets because these fish can share the same habitat with
shrimp. Bycatch continues to be an obstacle to recovery for red snapper, which
is severely overfished," Cufone continued.
Reducing bycatch is required by law and is necessary to responsibly manage
our marine resources. The Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council
recommended the use of the BRDs in the Eastern Gulf mid 2002, after three
and a half years of review. NOAA Fisheries' acceptance of the Council's
recommendation will help protect the entire living marine system by preventing
various fish and other ocean wildlife from getting caught in shrimp trawl nets.
The Ocean Conservancy
www.oceanconservancy.com
"We strongly support NOAA's approval of the Council's recommendation and
believe that BRDs, when properly installed in shrimp trawl nets, can help finfish
to escape with minimal reduction in the shrimp catch. However, other
measures, like seasonal or area closures or bycatch quotas, may still be
necessary to reduce harm to other species such as crabs that are also caught
in the nets," said Cufone.
While the 1998 BRD requirement in the Western Gulf was primarily intended to
reduce the bycatch of red snapper, the Council's efforts to reduce bycatch in
the Eastern Gulf have a broader purpose. The Magnuson-Stevens Fishery
Conservation and Management Act, the primary law that regulates fishing in
federal waters, requires that all bycatch, not just marine fish with economic or
social significance, be minimized "to the extent practicable," because all
species play important roles in healthy ocean ecosystems. NOAA Fisheries
recognized that shrimping activities in the Gulf of Mexico have not minimized
bycatch to the extent practicable and asked the Gulf Council to recommend
measures to further reduce shrimp trawl bycatch gulf-wide.