According to some estimates, global bycatch may amount to 40 percent of the world’s catch, totaling 63 billion pounds per year.
That passage from Oceana came from a major 2014 report titled, Wasted Catch: Unsolved Problems in U.S. Fisheries. However, the first thing you see after the title page is a 2-page photo with the above passage inserted as a graphic tidbit. Then come the table of contents and the rest of the report.
The opening line of the report literally starts with the widely accepted definition of bycatch:
“What is bycatch? Bycatch is the catch of non-target fish and ocean wildlife, including what is brought to port and what is discarded at sea.”