Bycatch. Incidental Catch. Non-target species. All terms for the millions of dead animals thrown back to sea as waste, because the market doesn't value this diversity of marine life.
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Industrial-scale fishing methods like bottom-trawls, purse-seines, and longlines are indiscriminate, reckless ways to fish used under the pressure for profit, but small boats can also deploy gillnets that stretch for a kilometer underwater. These activities could & should be greatly reduced, mitigated, or avoided.
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Issues like bycatch often go unnoticed, occurring in the realm of wild oceans far from cities or markets. That makes now a ripe moment for more stories to permeate consumer awareness and political discourse. Be it research, regulation, or the sheer might of public opinion—who knows exactly what combination of effort is needed—these are nuanced, complex yet solvable challenges that we are capable of exploring. It starts by recognizing the dimensions of harm that we heap on marine ecosystems, and changing course.