Report of the Workshop to Review Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Measures for Hawaii’S Pelagic Longline Fisheries September 18-19, 2018
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Report of the Workshop to Review Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Measures for Hawaii’s Pelagic Longline Fisheries September 18-19, 2018 November 2018 Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813 A report of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813 Edited by Eric Gilman and Asuka Ishizaki © Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 2018. All rights reserved. Published in the United States by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council ISBN: 978-1-944827-37-3 ii Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council – wpcouncil.org CONTENTS CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................... iii 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... 1 2 MEETING OBJECTIVES, TARGET OUTPUTS ...................................................................... 6 3 WORKSHOP STRUCTURE AND PARTICIPANTS ................................................................ 7 4 MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK .............................................................................................. 8 4.1. Seabird regulations for the Hawaii pelagic longline deep- and shallow-set longline fisheries ....................................................................................................................................... 8 4.2 WCPFC and IATTC seabird bycatch management measures .............................................. 9 5 TIME SERIES OF ESTIMATED FLEET-WIDE SEABIRD CATCH LEVELS AND RATES, HYPOTHESIZED CAUSES OF OBSERVED INCREASING TEMPORAL TRENDS IN BYCATCH LEVEL AND RATE ............................................................................................. 10 5.1 Time series of seabird catch levels and rates, including seasonal and spatial patterns and trends ......................................................................................................................................... 10 5.2 Risk factors for seabird bycatch in the Hawaii longline deep-set fishery ........................... 12 5.3 Findings from WPRFMC’s November 2017 albatross workshop ...................................... 13 5.4 Fleet dynamics and oceanographic drivers behind variations in black-footed albatross sightings in the Hawaii longline fishery .................................................................................... 14 5.5 Unique captain effect .......................................................................................................... 15 6 SEABIRD BYCATCH MITIGATION METHODS FOR PELAGIC LONGLINE FISHERIES DURING SETTING AND HAULING ..................................................................................... 16 6.1 Overview of fact sheets on seabird bycatch mitigation measures for pelagic longline fisheries and findings from research on seabird bycatch mitigation in Hawaii pelagic longline fisheries ..................................................................................................................................... 16 6.2 ACAP best practices ............................................................................................................ 17 6.3 Recent discussions at WCPFC and IATTC on possible amendments to seabird measures 18 7 PARTICIPANT RANKINGS OF SEABIRD BYCATCH MITIGATION METHODS .......... 20 7.1 High potential mitigation methods ...................................................................................... 20 7.1.1 Tori Lines ................................................................................................................................... 24 7.1.2 Branchline Weighting Configurations ....................................................................................... 25 7.1.3 Captain and Crew Training ........................................................................................................ 26 7.1.4 Measures with Moderate Potential ............................................................................................. 27 7.2 Deprioritized measures ........................................................................................................ 29 7.3 Combinations of Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Measures and Research Needs ................... 34 7.3.1 Deep-set Fishery: Potential Combination of Measures .............................................................. 34 7.3.2 Deep-set Fishery: Research Needs to Inform Potential Modification of Seabird Mitigation Requirements ...................................................................................................................................... 34 7.3.3 Shallow-set Fishery: Potential Combination of Measures ......................................................... 35 Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council – wpcouncil.org iii 7.3.4 Shallow-set Fishery: Research Needs to Inform Potential Modification of Seabird Mitigation Requirements ...................................................................................................................................... 35 7.3.5 Additional Research Needs to Inform Modification of Seabird Mitigation Requirements in Hawaii’s Longline Fisheries ............................................................................................................... 36 7.4 General Participant Feedback on Considerations for Future Modification of Mitigation Measures .................................................................................................................................... 37 7.5 Additional Research Needs for Improved Understanding of Interaction Patterns and Trends ................................................................................................................................................... 37 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 38 Appendix 1. Opening Remarks, Kitty Simonds, Executive Director, WPRFMC .................... 38 Appendix 2. Agenda .................................................................................................................. 39 Appendix 3. Participants List and Steering Committee ............................................................ 42 Appendix 4. Summary of Findings of Seabird Bycatch Research in Hawaii Pelagic Longline Fisheries .................................................................................................................................... 43 Appendix 5. Fact Sheets on Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Methods for Pelagic Longline Fisheries .................................................................................................................................... 56 Appendix 6. Worksheet for Participant Ranking of Alternative Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Methods ..................................................................................................................................... 71 Appendix 7. Comparison of Overall Scores of Alternative Seabird Bycatch Mitigation Methods from a Pre-workshop Survey and a Survey Conducted during the Workshop .......... 76 Tables Table 1. Participant rankings of the promise of seabird bycatch mitigation methods for potential use in the Hawaii deep- and shallow-set longline fisheries when assessed for efficacy, cross- taxa conflicts, practicality, economic viability, safety, durability and compliance monitoring. 2 Table 2. Summary of seabird regulations for Hawaii pelagic longline fisheries. ........................... 8 Table 3. Observed number of interactions and released dead, and interactions per 1,000 hooks for Laysan and black-footed albatrosses in the Hawaii SSLL fishery, 2004-2017. ........................ 11 Table 4. Observed number of interactions and released dead, interactions per 1,000 hooks, and estimated total interactions for Laysan and black-footed albatrosses in the Hawaii DSLL fishery, 2002-2017. .................................................................................................................... 11 Table 5. Summary of discussion of high priority measures that involve changes in fishing gear or use of equipment. ....................................................................................................................... 21 Table 6. Applicability of high priority seabird bycatch mitigation measures for use during setting and hauling in the Hawaii SSLL and DSLL fisheries. .............................................................. 23 Table 7. Deprioritized seabird mitigation measures for the Hawaii longline fishery based on group prioritization activity and additional facilitated discussions, and reasons for the low priority. ...................................................................................................................................... 30 Table 8. Current seabird mitigation measures required in the Hawaii DSLL fishery. ................. 34 Table 9. Current seabird mitigation measures required in the Hawaii SSLL fishery. .................. 35 Table 10. Participant list and steering committee members. ........................................................ 42 iv Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council – wpcouncil.org Table 11. Research findings from studies on seabird bycatch mitigation in Hawaii pelagic longline fisheries. ......................................................................................................................