New Government Watchdog Report Finds Major Gaps in Efforts to Monitor and Reduce Bycatch Across U.S. Fisheries
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a new report entitled, Federal Fisheries Management: Efforts to Reduce and Monitor Unintentional Catch and Harm Need Better Tracking, which found that federal efforts to monitor and reduce the unintentional catch or other harm to marine species, also called bycatch, in U.S. fisheries are lacking. The report was requested by U.S. House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.).
On release of the report, Ranking Member Grijalva said, “America’s fisheries are already under serious threat from the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and Trump’s deranged Project 2025 proposal to eliminate NOAA — we shouldn’t add unchecked bycatch to the list. This new report makes clear that NMFS and the Regional Fishery Management Councils need to take serious action to improve bycatch monitoring and maintain a robust fisheries observer program. I intend to work with my colleagues to make sure federal agencies have the resources they need, but that they are also putting them to good use.”
Rep. Mary Sattler Peltola (D-Alaska) said, “Alaskans and our fishing families know bycatch is a huge problem, but we also know there are steps we can take to fix it—since I’ve been in office, industry folks have taken notice and have self-selected into better practices that have already reduced chum salmon bycatch by 50%! We also know NOAA is slow-walking the National Standards update—we need action. That’s why I introduced the Bycatch Reduction and Mitigation Act, which would increase funding for NOAA’s Bycatch Reduction and Engineering Program and establish the Bycatch Mitigation Assistance Fund.”
Report Background, Findings, and Recommendations
Bycatch of marine species — non-target fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and sea turtles, among others — is a major threat to both the sustainability of fisheries and efforts to protect threatened and endangered species. To reduce harm, the Magnuson-Stevens Act requires fisheries to minimize bycatch to the extent possible.
The U.S. National Marine Fisheries (NMFS) monitors bycatch primarily through fisheries observers, who are deployed on fishing vessels at sea. The GAO report found that observer coverage varies widely across fisheries — from zero to 100% — and that recruitment and retention of observers is a major challenge. When fisheries do not have adequate observer coverage, the development of bycatch estimates is significantly more difficult, complicating fishery management and decision-making.
To address these issues, the GAO issued four recommendations:
- NMFS should assess and communicate the resources needed to support fisheries observers.
- NMFS should identify measurable performance goals for reducing and monitoring bycatch.
- NMFS should develop a process for tracking progress towards performance goals.
- NMFS should develop a comprehensive plan for reporting bycatch estimates.
Read the full GAO report HERE.
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