Pew's Comment Letter on Proposed Pelagic Longline Bycatch Reduction Project

In May, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment trustees proposed a project in the Gulf of Mexico to increase protections for western Atlantic bluefin tuna in its only known spawning area. Commercial fishermen would be paid to not fish with indiscriminate surface longlines, gear that incidentally catches and kills bluefin, every January through June. Instead, they would have the opportunity to fish with highly selective alternative gear that help stop the waste of this depleted fish and other ocean wildlife.

On June 19, Lee Crockett, director of Pew's U.S. oceans program, submitted comments to the trustees on this proposal.

Click here to download the comments.

Click here to read a blog post from Lee Crockett on the proposed project.