40% of fish caught are by-catch
40% is unintentionally caught and much is just thrown back into the sea, dead or dying.
Accidental deaths every year from by-catch
- 300,000 small whales and dolphins
- 250,000 endangered loggerhead turtles and critically endangered leatherback turtles
- 300,000 seabirds, including 17 albatross species
Drift nets and gillnet operations are among the most dangerous fishing techniques. The gillnets, of up to 30m high, either hang just under the water surface or are anchored to the seabed. Fish of a certain size get caught on it by their gills or fins but many whales and dolphins also get caught in the nets, can’t reach the surface to breathe and die painfully. Nowadays, bycatch is actually the biggest threat to endangered marine mammals in the world. Alone in Pakistan, 1,200 dolphins die every year in tuna gillnet operation.