What if nontrawl fished at trawl scale?

What if we stopped using trawl fishing?

It might sound like a good idea, but it would actually make things worse.

Trawl fishing uses big nets to catch a lot of fish at once. This is how much of the fish we eat is caught. It works well because it can catch a lot of fish quickly, which is necessary to feed millions of people. 

Some people think trawl fishing catches too many unwanted fish, called bycatch. But in reality, trawl fishing in Alaska catches fewer unwanted fish than other methods.

In 2021, trawl fishing caught about 3 out of every 100 fish by accident. Other methods, like longline fishing, caught about 14 out of every 100 fish by accident. That’s over four times higher. 

So, if we stop using trawl fishing and switch to other methods, we could end up catching a lot more unwanted fish, not less.

If we want to talk about fixing bycatch, we have to look at all the facts. Stopping trawl won’t bring the fish back, but it will have unintended consequences.