Exempt Fishery Proposal Application for Deep - Set Buoy Gear

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (Pacific Council) has expressed the desire for the development and design of alternative swordfish gears that reduce the potential for interactions with bycatch species of concern (i.e., turtles and marine mammals) along the U.S. west coast. Among the gears recently tested off California is deep-set buoy gear (DSBG), a configuration that was patterned after a federally authorized fishery in Florida (FL buoy gear fishery, SAFE, 2006). DSBG is a simple hook and line gear-type that selectively targets swordfish at depth (250-350m) during the day (Figure 1). DSBG was designed specifically by PIER for the west coast using depth distribution data from target (i.e., swordfish and opah) and non-target species (Sepulveda et al., 2010; Wegner et al., unpublished; Polovina et al., 2003). The DSBG configuration uses a heavy (4 kg) weighting system along with several bycatch mitigation measures (discussed below) to further minimize potential for interaction with species of concern. DSBG has been tested and modified by PIER and cooperative fishers over the course of three field seasons with the final configuration proposed for use in this EFP application. To date, experimental trials have confirmed that (1) swordfish can be selectively targeted at depth, (2) non-target catch of species of concern are minimal , and (3) swordfish caught on DSBG are of high quality and received by southern California markets at a premium price-point.