Victory! Congress Phases Out Drift Gill Net Fishery

By Mark J. Palmer

The last few days, and even hours, in Congress in December 2022, were certainly a nail-biter. The International Marine Mammal Project (IMMP) of Earth Island Institute had our hands full with several initiatives seeking important new legislation (as well as our successful efforts to block the worst pro-oil provisions sought by Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, owner of a coal company and no friend to reducing fossil fuel smog.)

We are very pleased that a major piece of legislation passed Congress, the Driftnet Modernization and Bycatch Reduction Act, which will finally phase out, over a five year period, the last drift gillnet fishery in the US, based in San Diego. IMMP was very much involved in the successful final passage. I personally visited a number of Congressional offices in Washington in September promoting passage of the bill, and I later drafted and coordinated letters to Congressional leadership urging inclusion of the legislation in the omnibus government funding bill.

“I’m excited that our bill to phase out harmful drift gillnets was included in the omnibus government funding bill,” said California Senator Dianne Feinstein, author of the legislation. “Large mesh drift gillnets kill indiscriminately, leaving a trail of dead or injured marine life behind. We must be better stewards of our oceans and fisheries. Federal waters off the coast of California are one of the last places these deadly nets are still being used. Our bill would finally remove them while helping the sword-fishing industry transition to more sustainable and profitable alternatives.”

The plastic fishing nets can be more than a mile long and are targeted to catch sharks and swordfish. But the nets also entangle and drown whales, dolphins, and sea turtles. The use of large mesh drift gillnets is responsible for 90 percent of the dolphins and porpoises killed along the West Coast and Alaska. Sperm whales, humpback whales, and other species have also been caught and drowned in the nets.

IMMP, Earth Island’s Shark Stewards, Oceana, Turtle Island, and many other groups have opposed this fishery for years. Indeed, a ban on the drift gill nets passed Congress during the Trump Administration, but for some reason the President vetoed the bi-partisan legislation. Senator Feinstein and Representative Adam Schiff reintroduced the legislation for the Congressional session of 2021-2022. Its passage is a tribute to the persistence of these members of Congress and the many groups supporting the legislation, including IMMP.

An important aspect of the legislation provides for alternative, non-entangling fishing gear for the industry. Deep-set buoy gear, for example, attracts swordfish with bait and alerts fishermen immediately when a bite is detected. Testing has shown that as much as 98 percent of animals caught with deep-set buoys are actually swordfish, resulting in far less bycatch than large mesh drift gillnets.

In the waning days of Congress this December, several additional provisions were added to protect the oceans, including language to improve monitoring of ocean noise, prevention of ship strikes on whales, a long overdue ban on buying and selling shark fins, and reauthorization of the US stranding program to help rehabilitate and release stranded and entangled marine mammals. IMMP, part of the Marine Mammal Protection Act Coalition, was active in efforts to pass the legislation.

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Without your support, special interests in Congress would be riding roughshod over environmental laws, exploiting and depleting limited resources like fish, oil and even marine mammals for all the profits they can make. Marine mammals don’t have a voice heard by politicians, but the International Marine Mammal Project is a strong voice for them. The power of our voice depends on contributions from donors like you. We urge you help safeguard ocean life by donating today. Many thanks!