Project To Monitor Billfish Bycatch In Gulf

NOAA and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) are collaborating on a 5-year project to “evaluate the feasibility of bycatch hotspots” via communication networks in the Gulf of Mexico. Used as a tool to help reduce bycatch, the requested data from the recreational, charter, and commercial fisheries may be used to identify areas where high bycatch is likely. In other words, voluntarily reported angler data may be used to justify closing (spatial management) waters in the Gulf of Mexico to recreational fishing.

In related news, federal proposal may implement an extreme vessel speed restriction of 11.5 mph for vessels 35 feet and larger when motoring through zones designated to reduce vessel strikes of endangered whales. While neither TBF, nor our fishing community would ever wish for the extinction of any marine creature, a speed reduction of this magnitude could dramatically restrain all marine-dependent commerce. Similar restrictions are even scheduled to be implemented within the eastern Gulf of Mexico to protect Rice’s Whales.

As a better potential alternative, TBF recommends the federal agency work with the U.S. Navy and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Marine Mammal Monitoring Programs to develop a warning system that alerts vessels when whales are near. TBF is currently working with Pat Healey of Viking Yachts, who leads the campaign to convince the agency and Congress that other solutions are essential.

Source: The Billfish Foundation