The Ocean Conservancy

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.
"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.