What term describes salmon sharks being caught unintentionally during North Pacific fisheries operations?
Answer
Bycatch
The primary human-driven threat to the salmon shark population stems from bycatch. This refers to the situation where salmon sharks are caught unintentionally by commercial fishing operations that are primarily targeting other commercially valuable species, such as salmon, pollock, or sablefish. Because these fishing activities, often employing gear like longlines and gillnets, occur in the same habitats and during the same feeding times as the sharks, incidental capture leads to mortality that significantly strains the species' long-term sustainability.

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