Shrimp and long-line fisheries operating out of the Gulf are among the nation's nine “dirtiest fisheries”, according to a report released today by the ocean conservation group Oceana.
Oceana's “Wasted Catch” report lists fisheries with the largest amount of bycatch, which is fish and wildlife unintentionally caught when attempting to catch other species.
The southeast United States snapper-group long-line fishery is listed as having the largest percentage of discarded catch in the nation, with 850,000 fish, or 66 percent of their total catch, discarded annually.
The Gulf shrimp trawl fishery is third on Oceana's list. That fishery is responsible for about 50,000 sea turtle deaths every year.