The film clearly illustrates that longlines catch more than just unsuspecting commercial fishermen and the fish they are targeting, in a scene where they pull up a shark on board by mistake. What the film does not show is the thousands of white marlin, blue marlin, endangered sea turtles, pilot whales, dolphins and other marine mammals that are caught on the thousands of hooks longliners routinely leave drifting in our nation's waters. There is a push by the U.S. Congress to curtail this very dangerous and indiscriminate method of fishing. Congress is right to question its place in the mix of commercial fishing methods that provide the U.S. public with its seafood. There are other methods of fishing for swordfish, tuna and mahi mahi that do not require weeks-long trips in small vessels with dangerous gear.
Fishermen are already in the most dangerous career the U.S. has to offer.
Please write your congressional representative and ask that he or she support H.R. 4612, a bill by Congressman Jim Saxton, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans, which will offer pelagic longline vessel owners a voluntary buyout from this non-selective and dangerous fishing method.