June 14, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Federal fishery managers recommended measures to manage sea turtle interactions in the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery targeting swordfish this week in Hawaii.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recommended amending the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) for the Western Pacific Region to establish a framework that consists of:
a) annual fleet-wide limits on the number of North Pacific loggerhead and leatherback interactions. Once either of these interaction limits is reached, the fishery closes for the remainder of the year; and
b) individual trip interaction limits for loggerhead and leatherback turtles. When a vessel has reached the limit on a trip, the vessel would be required to return to port and may resume shallow-setting upon providing the required 72-hour notice to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for observer placement.
The North Pacific loggerhead population in Japan has been increasing at about 9 percent annually. Mike Seki, director of NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, characterized the population as “robust.”
NMFS has reinitiated formal consultation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for the continued operation of the Hawaii shallow-set fishery. The Council anticipates NMFS will complete consultation and issue a new biological opinion for the fishery by Oct. 31, 2018.
Based upon the current NMFS biological evaluation to support this consultation, the Council anticipates the new opinion will authorize the take of no more than 37 North Pacific loggerheads and 21 leatherbacks. Accordingly, the Council recommended an annual fleet-wide limit of 37 North Pacific loggerheads and 21 leatherbacks, effective Jan. 1, 2019, and an individual trip limit of five North Pacific loggerhead turtles. The Council did not recommend specifying a leatherback turtle trip limit at this time. The effectiveness of the loggerhead turtle trip limit and potential need for leatherback turtle limit would be monitored annually, the Council said in a press release.
At the same time, the Council recommended a sea turtle interaction avoidance pilot program be established utilizing an industry-led fleet communication system. It also requested NMFS conduct further research on the sea turtle issue for this fishery, including research to minimize trailing gear on released loggerhead and leatherback turtles to further reduce post-hooking mortality rates.
Last week, the WPRFMC’s Scientific and Statistical Committee noted the Hawaii shallow-set fleet likely poses less biological risk to turtle populations than other fleets operating in the region, the SSC said in a statement. The industry and managers have recognized this in the past, when lawsuits forced the swordfish fishery to close completely or for part of the year.
The Hawaii Longline Association, NMFS and Turtle Island Restoration Network and other plaintiffs agreed to a settlement agreement in May to close the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery for the rest of this year.
Hawaii vessels must adhere to numerous regulatory measures, such as the interaction caps, mandatory observers on all trips to monitor protected species interactions, mandatory use of circle hooks and mackerel-type bait to reduce the risk of hooking sea turtles and mandatory equipment for and training in the safe release of live turtles — some other countries do not adhere to such strict regulatory measures.
The SSC also noted that North Pacific loggerhead nesting beach trends in Japan were much higher in the last decade than in previous years.
This story originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.