Stop Wasteful Trawl Bycatch

Trawlers tow nets the size of a football field through the water column, catching everything in their path. This extractive fishing practice leads to the “incidental” catch of non-target species, commonly known as bycatch. Bycatch cannot legally be retained, so the majority of it is discarded with a small percentage donated.

Trawlers can generally be organized into pelagic trawlers, also called “midwater” trawlers, and bottom trawlers. Bottom trawlers drag their nets across the ocean floor to catch flatfish such as sole and flounder. Midwater trawlers target fish such as pollock in the middle of the water column. A recent report, however, found that “midwater” trawlers actually drag the seafloor between 40% and 80% of the time, on average, with rates up to 100% on factory ships, also called catcher/processors.

More info can be found at Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission