What Is Bycatch?

A cartoon crash course

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Projects: U.S. Ocean Conservation

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What Is Bycatch?

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"Bycatch" refers to all the fish and other marine creatures incidentally caught or killed by fishing gear. In commercial fishing, this happens on a huge scale: Nets and fishing lines often stretch for miles, indiscriminately snaring all manner of life—including whales, porpoises, sea turtles, and even birds.

Cartoonist Jim Toomey—whose daily comic strip, Sherman’s Lagoon, is syndicated in more than 250 newspapers in the United States—has joined forces with The Pew Charitable Trusts to illustrate "bycatch" and other terms associated with our oceans.

Watch the full ocean terms video series.

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Article January 27, 2016

A Visual Glossary of Ocean Terminology

Cartoon crash course
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Article January 27, 2016

Ocean conservation is essential but sometimes difficult to understand. Pew joined forces with cartoonist Jim Toomey, the artist behind “Sherman’s Lagoon,” on 10 animated videos that explain the complicated concepts that guide efforts to protect our oceans.

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