60-Mile Long Fishing Lines Put Turtles At Risk

The Ocean Pacific Seafood Co. is seeking permission to catch swordfish using 60-mile long fishing line studded with hooks, a method that often snares turtles like the endangered leatherback, and other unintended "bycatch" that are killed unnecessarily.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, the agency that governs the nation's ocean fisheries, is considering a short-term permit that would allow the use of the long line fishing technique for the first time along the West Coast. Swordfish, meanwhile, are on have a mixed record, when it comes to the best and worst fish for consumers to choose, from an ecological standpoint, according to groups like the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which rate fish according to how sustainably they are fished.

Swordfish, if caught with harpoon, hand line, gill nets or even long line in U.S. waters are considered a good alternatives, while imported swordfish caught by long line is among the worst choices. Because they are predators high on the food chain, however, they can accumulate toxins like mercury in their flesh, meaning consumers should be careful not to eat too much or else risk accumulating damaging levels of the neurotoxin in their own bodies.

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