Fish or animals that are accidentally caught in commercial fishing operations are called bycatch. These dead or dying creatures are usually discarded overboard. Studies show fisheries now throw away about 23% of all the fish, crustaceans, and mollusks they catch. This translates into more than tens of millions of edible fish and drowned animals each year. The use of large mesh gillnets by a single California fishery is responsible for 90% of the dolphins and porpoises killed along the West Coast and Alaska. Bycatch includes marine mammals, turtles, striped marlin, bluefin tuna and sharks - at least 20% of which are already dead upon release. Marine advocates say the loss of young fish greatly limits the ability of a species to breed successfully.

It is estimated that hundreds of whales, dolphins and porpoises drown each day after becoming entangled in nets and other fishing gear. Nearly 20% of all shark species are facing extinction from inadvertent long-line and gillnet capture, and as many as 250,000 unwanted loggerhead and leatherback turtles are also killed this way each year. Advocates say these commercial fishing practices are not sustainable and are endangering the health of the oceans.

Pending Legislation: S.3579 - A bill to address data and research gaps to improve marine environmental data collection, particularly in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska, prioritize technology that supports research, bycatch reduction, and marine benthic habitat in Alaska fisheries, advance and streamline electronic monitoring and electronic reporting in United States fisheries, and establish a fund to provide financial assistance for fishermen purchasing gear and technology aimed at reducing bycatch and marine benthic habitat contract from trawl fishing gear.
Sponsor: Sen. Dan Sullivan (AK)
Status: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Chair: Sen. Ted Cruz (TX)