Swordfish Driftnets Gone off CA – Will Longlines Follow?
West Coast highly migratory species (HMS) issues now focus on what fisheries will follow the large mesh drift gillnet fishery for swordfish. The process has begun by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to decide, with public input, what fisheries can essentially replace the driftnet fishery to provide fresh swordfish to local markets. The search for […]
Pacific Striped Marlin Rebuilding Plan
Western & Central Northern Pacific striped marlin, whose abundance, especially spawning-stock biomass, and size are greatly diminished and retain low priority within the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). This regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) is tasked with the management of this and other highly migratory species. Unfortunately, its interim rebuilding plan for the species which includes goals to be achieved by 2034 has no chance of success. More aggressive conservation and management measures by WCPFC to reduce post-release mortality need to be considered, which can be done with little impact on longlines catching its targeted species
Non-Longline Fisheries Should Be Allocated More Swordfish
All non-longline swordfish fisheries are required to use handgear – handline, harpoon, commercial rod and reel, green-stick and bandit gear. Handgear takes far less bycatch than does pelagic longline gear, much of the time it takes none making the fisheries cleaner and sustainable. Increasing landing limits to these fisheries makes sense, whereas allowing pelagic longlines back into the Closed Zones to fish for swordfish does not. Increasing swordfish retention limits to handgear fisheries was the focus of a NOAA phone meeting that The Billfish Foundation (TBF) staff members recently joined. The government’s first presented Preferred Alternative is for vessels
New Federal Rule Changes
The National Marine Fisheries Service’s recently issued its final decision on Gear Restricted Areas (GRA) and Weak Hook use by pelagic longline vessels. These decisions ARE NOT related to the more serious pending rule on whether to open Closed Zones to pelagic longline fishing under the guise of research. The GRA decision abolished the area off Hatteras and converted those off New Jersey and in the Gulf of Mexico to pelagic longline Gear Monitoring Areas from which data is to be collected on bycatch of bluefin tunas. The 12-month requirement for pelagic longline vessels fishing in the
NMFS Removes Weak Hook Requirement
The 2011 required year-round use of weak hooks (15/0 carbon vs 16/0 steel for regularly used hook) by pelagic longline vessels fishing in the Gulf of Mexico was for 12 months, but it is now reduced to 6 months (Jan. – June). Longline hooked large bluefin tuna and blue marlin often broke off the weak hooks, reducing bycatch mortality, but a greater number of both white marlin and blue marlin were hooked. The weak hook research indicates that most marlin were released within 5 minutes. In 2011, 175 white marlin were reported hooked by pelagic longline gear rigged
TBF’s Top Achievements in 2019
With the year coming to a close, we thank you for your support, as we reflect on key achievements in 2019. Please consider joining TBF, if not already on board, or make a tax free year-end donation to support our critical billfish work. You can follow us on social media @thebillfishfoundation and be sure subscribe to our free monthly newsletter to stay updated on the latest billfish
A Win for HMS Conservation in the Pacific? Not So Fast…
While no action was taken by the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) at its November meeting to advance further consideration of its recently proposed measure to consider authorizing a Shallow Set Longline (SSLL) fishery for swordfish in waters off California November meeting. The PFMC did authorize its governmental Highly Migratory Species Management Team (HMSMT) to analyze effort, catch, bycatch data of subsets of Hawaii’s shallow-set longline observer data, document domestic and foreign supply of swordfish on the west coast and Hawaii and current conservation impacts on each, assess potential mitigation of such impacts that might reduce the
TBF Responds to New Pacific Fishery Management Council Initiative
The Pacific Fishery Management Counsel is proposing to authorize the use of shallow-set longline gear to fish for swordfish off the West Coast of the United States. Below are the official comments by President of The Billfish
TBF Tells NMFS NO To Harming Billfish and Sportfishing
As promised, below are TBF’s final comments for the NMFS initiative that will potentially decimate billfish populations and harm the recreational fishing community. As a reminder, the new NMFS proposal is twofold: To read more about the proposal, click here. Most importantly, to add your comments telling NMFS NO to loosening gear restrictions and harming our community, click here. Comments are due by midnight tonight, September 30th
New NMFS Initiatives Benefit Longlines and Harm Recreational Community
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing initiatives that once again ignore the recreational fishing community and do not benefit billfish conservation. NMFS seeks to reinvigorate commercial catch by loosening regulations on the longline fishery. This comes despite the fact that NMFS scientists and scientists of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) have made it clear that fishing pressure must be reduced on overfished marlin and other species – or to use a precautionary fishing approach. These new adjustments are irresponsible and show a true lack of regard for our community, the economic capacity
