March 23, 2022 — Hawaii’s longline fishery became more active in 2021 as the state began its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the increase didn’t necessarily lead to more fish caught.
Commercial fish catch in Hawaii plummeted in 2020 as the coronavirus forced the closure of hotels, restaurants and other businesses, and along with them the demand for fish.
But Hawaii’s economy has been slowly returning to form, and in 2021 the state’s 146 longline fishing vessels made 1,734 fishing trips, up from the 1,679 in 2020.
Additionally, the vessels set out 63.5 million hooks during their fishing trips — a record number for the industry, said Russell Ito, a fishery biologist for the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center.
Ito on Wednesday presented an annual report on Hawaii’s longline fishery to the Scientific and Statistical Committee, an advisory body to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.