September 3, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded contracts for seafood from the Pacific Northwest worth more than USD 17 million (EUR 15 million), following requests from politicians and seafood organizations to do so.
Clackamas, Oregon, U.S.A.-based Dulcich, which owns Pacific Seafood, snagged the largest portion of the contracts – USD 9.3 million (EUR 8.4 million) for Pacific whiting.
April 3, 2024 — Blake Herman harpoons swordfish off the coast of southern California and hopes to gain access to the state’s Marine Protected Areas off Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara Islands. When the California Fish & Game Department offered stakeholders the opportunity to petition for regulatory changes, Herman submitted a petition to open three MPAs for pelagic fishing.
“If you read the original statements from back in the early 2000s when these MPAs were established, it says very clearly that the MPAs are intended to protect groundfish, and rockfish,” said Herman. “They said back then that these would not affect pelagics.”
While Herman believes the rationale for protecting rockfish is sound, he hopes his 36-page petition will convince state regulators that it is equally sensible to allow fishing for pelagic species such as swordfish and bluefin tuna. “A rockfish lives on the bottom and can spend its life in a small area, but swordfish come from Hawaii to here and go back again,” he said.
October 3, 2023 — The first commercial fishing permits for using deep-set buoy gear in the swordfish fishery in the U.S. state of California were issued by the National Marine Fisheries Service 15 September, marking a milestone in the long transition away from large mesh drift gillnets off the West Coast.
Gillnets are to be finally phased out by 2027, replaced largely by deep-set buoy gear – vertical mainlines around 150 fathoms in length, with a flagpole outfitted with a light or radar reflector at the surface and a heavy sinker to keep the line anchored vertically.
August 16, 2023 — NOAA Fisheries has awarded FLOAT Partners a five-year, USD 50 million (EUR 46 million) contract to oversee efforts to put observers on commercial fishing vessels in the Pacific Islands.
Under the contract, which is set to begin 1 September and continue into 2028, Hawai’i, U.S.A.-based FLOAT will recruit, supervise, and outfit fisheries observers as part of the Pacific Islands Region Observer Program (PIROP).
April 13, 2023 — After decades of public scrutiny, legal battles, and many regulatory changes that constricted the fishery, large-mesh drift gillnets for swordfish in California will be phased out by 2027. Deep-set buoy gear, now being employed under federal exempted fishing permits, is set to become the primary method to harvest swordfish off the California coast, with harpoons continuing as a supplemental fishery.
After years of debate and with plenty of bad blood some between primary stakeholders, there is one thing the fishing industry, fisheries managers, and environmental groups agree on: There will be less bycatch from catching swordfish, but unless new technology can be scaled up there will also be less swordfish landed out of California ports.
“It’s not a replacement fishery for large mesh drift gillnets,” says Chugey Sepulveda of deep-set buoy gear. Sepulveda is director and senior scientist at the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research and is the person who first developed deep-set buoy gear in the Southern California Bight. The buoy gear “was brought online to capitalize/augment the existing harpoon fishery, which supports a market that receives a higher price-point for its catch.”
Deep-set buoy gear has shown to be effective at catching swordfish efficiently with minimal bycatch, yielding a higher market price per pound, but Sepulveda and fishermen currently using the gear under federal exempted fishing permits say it was developed for smaller boats and doesn’t yield the volume of fish needed to cover the costs of larger vessels.
Furthermore, bycatch was still part of the catch for drift gillnets. Fishermen using large mesh drift gillnets earned additional income from retained thresher shark, louver, and other species, that will be lost with deep-set buoy gear.
Deep-set buoy gear consists of a vertical mainline around 150 fathoms in length with a flagpole outfitted with a light or radar reflector at the surface and a heavy sinker to keep the line anchored vertically. Attached to the mainline are typically 1 to 3 circle hooks with a light attached to shine below the thermocline at 20-70 meters (65 to 230 feet) in California waters. The gear is also designed to be actively tended with strike indicators at the surface to alert fishermen when a fish is on.
April 8, 2023 — Spring time is swordfish season in the pacific and Hawaii fisherman are reeling them in.
While many local fish buyers look for the best price and quality when it comes to Ahi, many in the industry say swordfish is often an unappreciated and under-utilized commodity for the region.
It’s often shipped out, away from the islands. But fishermen are trying to change that — they say swordfish has a place at your table.
March 7, 2023 — Hawaii’s longline fleet has been in full swing since January, in the first season since the fishery was certified sustainable by the globally recognized Marine Stewardship Council, according to the Hawaii Longline Association.
“Hawaii-landed swordfish has always been a high-quality option for seafood lovers,” said Mike Goto, auction manager of United Fishing Agency Ltd., according to a statement from association this week. “The landed quality and size of fish, as well as the diverse culinary preparations for swordfish, really make it a premium seafood product.”
“The fishery is among the most highly monitored and strictly regulated fisheries on Earth,” said Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association. “We have 100 percent federal observer coverage, satellite-based vessel monitoring, daily at-sea electronic reporting, and other requirements including protected species mitigation measures. With our recent MSC certification, consumers can be more confident than ever that the Hawaii swordfish they enjoy is harvested in a responsible and sustainable manner.”
March 6, 2023 — The Hawaiian swordfish longline fleet’s first season since it achieved Marine Stewardship Council certification in September 2022 “is in full swing,” according to the Hawaii Longline Association (HLA).
The Hawaii longline shallow-set swordfish season runs from January until June, primarily in international waters around the Hawaii Archipelago, supplying fresh, ice-chilled fish to Hawaii and U.S. mainland markets.
February 13, 2023 — Hawaii’s commercial fishing industry is asking Hawaii families to consider (or reconsider) a fish that’s fallen out of favor over the years.
While Hawaii is known for its ahi and other tuna, swordfish is actually a big part of the commercial fishing industry in the islands. So much so that the Hawaii Longline Association says its fleet provides about half the country’s demand for swordfish — caught more than 1,000 miles north of Hawaii.
September 13, 2022 — A global nonprofit organization that aims to curb overfishing by certifying groups that catch seafood sustainably has given Hawaii’s local longline fleet its seal of approval.
The Marine Stewardship Council announced Monday that it certified the Hawaii Longline Association for sustainable fishing practices in catching swordfish, bigeye and yellowfin tuna.