November 10, 2013
When comes the time to call a spade a spade?
As a reporter, I have for years consciously avoided using the term “bycatch” when referring to the king salmon caught by commercial set netters in Alaska’s Cook Inlet off the mouth of the Kenai River. Bycatch is, as a Kenai radio reporter Catie Quinn points out, “a hot-button word.”
I’d hate to say I wimped out and used an obsequious phrase — “incidental catch” — to avoid a hot-button word.
What is bycatch? Here is the generally accepted definition of the term that first began popping up in common usage in the late 1990s:
“The term “bycatch” is usually used for fish caught unintentionally in a fishery while intending to catch other fish. It may however also indicate untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting. Bycatch is of a different species, undersized individuals of the target species, or juveniles of the target species.”
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Because the Alaska Salmon Alliance wish to provide a wide breadth of information, we sometimes provide links and documents that may conflict or present only one perspective on an issue. Because of that, we feel it is important to note that none of the content provided on our website necessarily represents the views or opinions of the Alaska Salmon Alliance, excepting, of course, those articles authored by us.