bycatch. Each of three data sets are also used to verify one another and can alert fisheries management to dishonest practices. Some fisheries, in the U.S. and abroad, do not mandate an observer while the vessel operates. In these fisheries the bycatch data is either self-reported or not reported at all. In some instances, fisherman voluntarily self-report their bycatch data to oversight bodies. The fisheries with unmonitored trawls often catch bycatch that is not as valuable as the bycatch monitored fisheries or utilize midwater trawling which yields less bycatch than the more standard bottom trawling. Fisheries that forgo bycatch reporting are encouraged by organizations such as NOAA to report their bycatch to aid the effort of tracking the health of the fishery. As the health of the ocean in the future is uncertain due to climate change and other factors, providing biologists with accurate data about a source of fish mortality is essential to preserve the renewable resource that is wild caught seafood. Cost Regardless of the ecological effects of trawling, the cost of bycatch as trawlers operate poses an economic issue. It is estimated by Oceana that, worldwide, fishermen lose at least $1 billion worth of potential catch annually due to the disposal of bycatch. Any animal that is caught and discarded as bycatch often dies and cannot reproduce, negatively impacting the stock of the species. Bycatch is not limited to only inexpensive species of fish. Often, well known and prized fish species are disposed of as bycatch due to size and sex restrictions or because the vessel's permit does not include the species. The highest cost associated with the bycatch of a single species is Pacific Halibut worth an annual $58.7 million. For halibut the massive bycatch cost can be attributed to trawlers catching more halibut as bycatch than the halibut fishery catches total. In 2014 seven times as many halibut were caught and discarded as trawl bycatch then in the directed fishery. Additionally, other prized fish species have an immense bycatch cost, the most costly are Seatrout worth $45.5 million, Atlantic sea scallop worth $32.7 million, red snapper worth $27.2 million, summer flounder worth $7.2 million, red grouper worth $6.7 million, Atlantic and Pacific cod worth $6.7 million, Tanner crab worth $4.6 million, king mackerel worth $4.3 million, sole worth $3.9 million, bluefin tuna worth $3.4 million, Chinook (king) salmon worth $1.4 million, and swordfish worth $1.3