


NOAA Fisheries is conducting a review to evaluate whether and how to improve the National Bycatch Report.
NOAA Fisheries is responsible for monitoring and managing bycatch and bycatch mortality of living marine resources in U.S. fisheries. As part of that effort, we produced the first edition of the National Bycatch Report in 2011, and updates in 2014 (Update 1) and 2016 (Update 2), to provide bycatch estimates at the fishery and species level. The National Bycatch Report is not a requirement under the Magnuson-Stevens Act or other law. The report and its updates provide a compilation of bycatch information and national and regional overviews to help monitor bycatch trends and set fishery monitoring priorities. They are not, however, used for day-to-day management of fisheries.
Priorities and issues surrounding bycatch have evolved since 2011. To address these issues, NOAA Fisheries released the National Bycatch Reduction Strategy in 2016 and a Standardized Bycatch Reporting Methodology rule in 2017. In addition, we are conducting a review to evaluate whether and how to improve the National Bycatch Report.
Varying legal definitions of bycatch exist, and the National Bycatch Report and Updates have used a relatively broad definition. The current review, however, focuses only on fish and invertebrate species bycatch, including Endangered Species Act-listed fish species such as salmon.
Please consider the following questions in your feedback:
Please submit comments before October 31 by email, or by U.S. mail to Wendy Morrison, NMFS, Office of Sustainable Fisheries, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910.