TURBULENCE AT SEA ADVOCACY GROUPS MERGE TO IMPROVE FISHING.

Byline: Bill Becher Special to the Daily News

American Oceans Campaign, a conservation organization co-founded 15 years ago by actor Ted Danson, has merged with Oceana, another advocacy group.

Danson will serve as a director of the combined organization which hopes to pressure the Bush administration to uphold laws it says will reduce destructive commercial fishing practices.

According to the group, one quarter of commercial fishing's take is discarded as ``bycatch.'' Fish prized by sport fishermen, including striped marlin in the Pacific, have been killed as bycatch by commercial tuna fishing, according to a California Department of Fish and Game report.

``This is not about saving ocean critters just to save them. It's about sustainable fishing,'' said Danson. ``Bottom trawling is like clear cutting a forest.'' The group does not want to stop commercial fishing but see it done better, he said.

Oceana executive director Dawn Martin announced the group is filing a formal petition with the National Marine Fisheries Service to force the agency to implement four federal laws that she says would limit wasted catch in U.S. fisheries.

Bycatch has been cited by the American Sportfishing Association as harmful to marine resources enjoyed by recreational fishers.

``Sportfishermen are concerned that the commercial industry is committing suicide with its overfishing and indiscriminate gear techniques,'' said Milton Shedd, co-founder of Sea World and a spokesperson for the American Sportfishing Association at its Web site. ``It's not that sportfishers want to see commercials put out of business, we just want to see the resources maintained.''

Bycatch is the name given to fish and other marine animals caught by fishermen but thrown back, usually injured or dead. Bycatch includes fish, sea turtles, sea birds, marine mammals and anything that can be scraped off the bottom or caught by a net or hook. According to a United Nations report cited by Oceana, one quarter of the global catch in 1994, more than 27 million metric tons of fish, is thrown overboard each year dead or dying as unwanted bycatch.

In 1994, the Alaska fishing fleet threw out 750 million pounds of dead ocean wildlife, more than was kept by the entire New England fishing fleet that year, according to Oceana. Of particular concern are the world's many endangered animals that are caught as bycatch. For example, the International Whaling Commission estimates that between 65,000 and 80,000 whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals perish as bycatch each year.

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Actor Ted Danson, founder of American Oceans Campaign, announces its merger with another conservation group. They hope to reduce wasted catches in U.S. fisheries.

Bill Becher/Special to the Daily News