"Bycatch"
is the term for fish and other seafood fishermen pull in with their
haul, but do not take to market. It is usually thrown overboard.
Thursday,
a coalition of environmental groups raised an alarm about bycatch,
saying that there's way too much of it. They also say the federal
government isn't doing enough to keep track of it.
The
report, "Turning a Blind Eye," charges that 340,000,000 pounds of fish
are discarding as bycatch each year in New England. It also says the
region won't be able to rebuild stocks until there's better monitoring.
"We
need to start with gettting the information that we need that will
accurately and precisely assess the number of fish that are being
removed from the fishery," said Roger Fleming from the Conservation Law
Foundation.
A
bill currently before congress would cut the funding for observers on
fishing boats. The New England Fishery Management Council is among the
groups fighting to keep the funding for observers.
