Bycatch

What is Bycatch?

Bycatch is anything caught in the shrimp nets besides shrimp. This includes small bait fish, juvenile commercial fish, crabs, turtles, etc.  This is one major complaint that environmental groups look at, as it is a huge concern for those species’ survival.  Without an active plan to reduce the bycatch, an entire species of small fish could be in danger.

The finfish bycatch to shrimp catch ratio in the 1970s was around 10:1; that is, for every pound of shrimp caught, 10 pounds of non-targeted finfish, such as juvenile red snapper. Since the introduction of Bycatch Reduction Devices and Turtle Excluder Devices, that number has dropped to 4:1.  That number is expected to improve to 2.5:1 when the new assessment data is released later this year.

The shrimp fishery catches over 300 different species of ocean life, but studies from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Texas Parks and Wildlife show it is not likely to cause serious risk or hinder the recovery of any of the species. Generally, most bycatch by weight consists of croakers, porgies, and other bait fish, which are not considered at risk because of their abundance and productivity rates. Red Snapper is currently considered overfished and is a species that is affected by shrimping.  However, the red snapper biomass has increased significantly in the past 5 to 10 years due greatly to the use of the BRDs in shrimp nets.

Reducing Bycatch

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and NOAA regulate the type of nets used and require additional gear to be used to harvest wild shrimp.

Bycatch Reduction Device

One of the devices used with the trawling gear is a BRD, Bycatch Reduction Device.  A BRD is an opening in the shrimp trawl net to allow finfish or non-targeted animals to escape while the shrimp is directed to the tail bag. Many shrimpers complain that the use of the BRDs has significantly impacted production of the shrimp, but the BRDs have proved to be a very successful device in reducing the number of non-target species mortality.

Turtle Excluder Device

The other device is a Turtle Excluder Device, TED.  This device allows sea turtles that may be caught with shrimp to escape through a hole in the net while the shrimp are directed to the tail bag. This has been a major aspect of several species of turtles’ population boom. NOAA research suggests that the TEDs are 97% effective. The five species of sea turtles that shrimping affects have all shown a vast improvement, except for loggerhead turtles. The long lifespan and high age of maturity prevent detection of increases in the population of the loggerheads affected by TEDs.

Other Methods

Another method to reduce bycatch is the actual drag time of the nets. We limit each drag time to 2 hours or less. This increases the likelihood of survival of Bycatch exponentially. If a turtle does get caught in a net and is not able to escape, the much shorter drag times allow the turtle to simply be pulled from the nets and introduced back into its habitat. If the same turtle is dragged for 6 or 7 hours, its likelihood of survival is 0%.  Not only do the shorter drag times help reduce the bycatch, but they also increase the quality of shrimp being caught.

Enforecment

So why is this not a green-rated segment of the Fishery? Enforcement!

Some claim that the shrimpers and net makers modify the TEDs and BRDs to reduce shrimp loss, resulting in turtle mortalities and higher By-Catch Ratios. Due to restricted funds, State and Federal Officers do not have enough coverage to enforce properly installed TEDs and BRDs.

This is a major flaw in protecting the Shrimp Fishery. While NOAA requires all vessels fishing in federal waters to have BRDs and TEDs installed in all trawling gear, Wood’s Fisheries takes the issue of bycatch even further. Another criterion that a boat producing for us must meet is lower bycatch rates than the average rate of most vessels in the Gulf and South Atlantic. A boat that qualifies its shrimp as Wood’s Premium must have annual inspections by the NOAA Gear Monitoring Team. We gladly request the evaluation from the NOAA team on the boat’s behalf and cover any cost associated with keeping the inspection current. Observers are another way of monitoring bycatch and the proper use of TEDs and BRDs. The Federal Shrimp Observer Program is in place to put observers on the boats. As of now, there is only about 1% of observer coverage across the fleet. We are devoted to helping the program reach 5% in the next 5 years.