|
|
| Wasteful
fishing practices |
| Marine
animals that are caught in nets but do not belong to the target species
are called by-catch. Most of these animals perish. In addition to thousands
of tons of non-target fish, great numbers of threatened animal species
like sharks,sea turtles, sea birds and dolphins become trapped and drown. |
As
stated in recent studies, the global by-catch of aquatic mammals is about
650.000 per annum (307.000 whales/dolphins and 343.000 seals).
This
is wasteful and unnecessary exploitation of marine resources. |
| One
drastic example: |
| For
every 1 ton of shrimp collected, 14 tons of by-catch animals are killed
and discarded. |
 |
Focussed
awareness
campaigns within the fishing community to
promote a reduction of by-catch. By-catch which is still alive could be
rescued through quick action. |
|
Sensible
and sustainable fishing practices, the use
of appropriate devices to reduce by-catch, and careful fish handling, e
g by applying:
| - |
acoustic
alarms (''Pingers'') |
| - |
circle
hooks in long-line fishing to reduce by-catch of sea turtles |
| - |
newly
developed shrimp nets which allow turtles to escape
(''TEDs:
Turtle Excluder Devices'') |
| - |
hooks
with magnets attached in order to deter sharks |
|
|
www.smartgear.org |
|
Pay
attention to the MSC label when buying seafood.
www.msc.org
(Marine
Stewardship Council) |
|
|
|
MSC
is engaged in promoting fishing methods which minimize the impact on other
marine inhabitants. For example, the widespread implementation of net-attached
acoustic alarms should deter marine mammals from getting too close to fishing
devices. |
|
