Tes$ng of two industry-‐designed BRDs to reduce Pacific halibut bycatch
Mark J.M. Lomeli Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission Newport, OR
W. Waldo Wakefield FRAM, NWFSC, NMFS, NOAA Fisheries Newport, OR
F/V Miss Sue Newport, OR
Foulweather Trawl, LLC Newport, OR
29th Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium 13-‐16 May 2014 Anchorage, AK
West Coast Limited Entry Groundfish Trawl Fishery
• Managed under a Catch Shares / IFQ Program – establishes ACLs, IFQs, and IBQ for Pacific halibut – 100% observer coverage
• Two trawl components – groundfish boKom trawl fishery – Pacific hake midwater trawl fishery
• Groundfish boKom trawl fishery – Dover sole/thornyheads/sablefish are targeted over the cont. slope
(know as the deepwater DTS complex fishery)
– over the cont. shelf, fishermen target a variety of species including flaSishes, rockfishes, roundfishes, & skates
Concern Over Pacific Halibut Bycatch
• Limited quota is available relaXve to the more abundant and more producXve flaSish and roundfish stocks targeted
• For example, 2014 ACLs vs IBQ – Dover sole = 25, 000 mt – English sole = 5,646 mt vs Pacific halibut = 78 mt – petrale sole = 2,652 mt – sablefish = 2,038 mt
• RetenXon of trawl-‐caught halibut is prohibited, therefore must be discarded at sea – before discarded, an observer assigns the fish to a mortality category of
excellent (20%), poor (55%), or dead (90%) – this % mortality (by weight) is then deducted from the fishermen’s IBQ
Industry-‐Designed BRDs Evaluated
• The BRDs evaluated were flexible sorXng grid excluders – Concept: fishes smaller than the sorXng grids will pass through and
move ae towards the codend, whereas fish larger than the grid opening will be excluded
• 1) Developed for the deepwater DTS complex fishery for reducing halibut bycatch
• 2) Developed for the nearshore flaSish fishery for reducing halibut and roundfish bycatch (i.e. overfished and rebuilding rockfishes, juvenile sablefish) – Vessels targeXng Dover sole, petrale sole, English sole, Pacific
sanddad, etc.
Gear Trials • Fishing occurred off Oregon aboard the F/V Miss Sue in 2013
• Tow dura$ons were set to 45 min. – Towing speed ranged from 2.2-‐2.6 knots
• Fish reten$on/escapement was quan$fied using a recapture net, with length and weight data being collected on halibut and species of commercial importance
• Deepwater DTS Complex Fishery: – 23 tows were conducted; avg. bo\om depth = 301 m
• Nearshore Fla^ish Fishery: – 15 tows were conducted; avg. bo\om depth = 189 m
escape tube of netting
intermediate section codend
debris panel Flexible sorting grid 5.5 x 6.0” (14.0 x 15.2 cm)
BRD
Deepwater DTS Complex Fishery BRD
1 2 intermediate
section codend
Nearshore FlaSish Fishery BRD Grid size = 1.75 x 8.5” (4.4 x 21.6 cm)
Top view Camera view
Deepwater DTS Complex Fishery Results
Pacific Halibut Bycatch ReducXon
Trawl Recapture net Result
Number of fish 18 52 74.3%
Weight (kg) 95.0 486.7 83.7%
Mean length (cm) 76 (±1.6 SE) 90 (±1.9 SE) P<0.0001
length (cm)60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
weig
ht (k
g)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35Recapture net (n=52)Trawl (n=18)
Halibut Size SelecXvity
length (cm)60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
weig
ht (k
g)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35Recapture net (n=52)Trawl (n=18)
Halibut Size SelecXvity
> 8 KG; 100%
length (cm)60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150
weig
ht (k
g)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35Recapture net (n=52)Trawl (n=18)
Halibut Size SelecXvity
Size SelecXvity for Halibut < 8 kg
length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90
wei
ght (
kg)
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10Recapture net (n=24)Trawl (n=18)
length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90
wei
ght (
kg)
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10Recapture net (n=24)Trawl (n=18)
Size SelecXvity for Halibut < 8 kg
5-8 KG; 70%
length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90
wei
ght (
kg)
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10Recapture net (n=24)Trawl (n=18)
Size SelecXvity for Halibut < 8 kg
< 5 KG; 25%
Halibut Escapement per Tow
tow
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23
weig
ht (k
g)
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60 Recapture netTrawl
Halibu
t
Rex so
le
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
SSTH
Rough
eye r
f
Sablef
ish
Lingc
od
Big sk
ate
Long
nose
skate
% re
tent
ion
0
10
20
30
80
90
100
RetenXon by Weight (kg) Total catch / tow: 131 – 3,762 kg
Halibu
t
Rex so
le
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
SSTH
Rough
eye r
f
Sablef
ish
Lingc
od
Big sk
ate
Long
nose
skate
% re
tent
ion
0
10
20
30
80
90
100
RetenXon by Weight (kg) 99.0
96.9
90.0
RetenXon (Tow 8) Halibut = 16.8% Groundfishes = 91.9%
Recapture net
Trawl
< 2 lbs 2-3.5 lbs 3.5-5 lbs 5-7 lbs 7-9 lbs 9-12 lbs > 12 lbs
# of
sab
lefis
h
0
50
100
150
200
250 TrawlRecapture net
Sablefish RetenXon by Ex-‐Vessel Price / lb
$0.50 $0.90 $1.45 $2.05 $2.60 $3.75 $4.25
< 2 lbs 2-3.5 lbs 3.5-5 lbs 5-7 lbs 7-9 lbs 9-12 lbs > 12 lbs
# of
sab
lefis
h
0
50
100
150
200
250 TrawlRecapture net
Sablefish RetenXon by Ex-‐Vessel Price / lb
83% 69% 38%
$0.50 $0.90 $1.45 $2.05 $2.60 $3.75 $4.25
< 2 lbs 2-3.5 lbs 3.5-5 lbs 5-7 lbs 7-9 lbs 9-12 lbs > 12 lbs
# of
sab
lefis
h
0
50
100
150
200
250 TrawlRecapture net
Sablefish RetenXon by Ex-‐Vessel Price / lb
83% 69% 38%
$0.50 $0.90 $1.45 $2.05 $2.60 $3.75 $4.25
< 2 lbs 2-3.5 lbs 3.5-5 lbs 5-7 lbs 7-9 lbs 9-12 lbs > 12 lbs
# of
sab
lefis
h
0
50
100
150
200
250 TrawlRecapture net
Sablefish RetenXon by Ex-‐Vessel Price / lb
83% 69% 38%
$4,674 economic loss
$0.50 $0.90 $1.45 $2.05 $2.60 $3.75 $4.25
Rex so
le
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
SSTH
Darkblo
tched
RF
Rough
eye R
F
Sablef
ish
Lingc
od
Halibu
t
mea
n le
ngth
(cm
)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100Trawl Recapture net
Mean Length Comparison -‐ DTS Fishery
*
* *
* * P<0.05
Rex so
le
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
SSTH
Darkblo
tched
RF
Rough
eye R
F
Sablef
ish
Lingc
od
Halibu
t
mea
n le
ngth
(cm
)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100Trawl Recapture net
Mean Length Comparison -‐ DTS Fishery
*
* *
* * P<0.05
Nearshore Fla^ish Fishery Results
Pacific Halibut Bycatch ReducXon
Trawl Recapture net Result
Number of fish 4 30 88.2%
Weight (kg) 14.5 216.8 93.7%
Mean length (cm) 68 (±2.7 SE) 81 (±2.4 SE) P=0.0282
Halibut Size SelecXvity
length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115
wei
ght (
kg)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22Recapture net (n=30)Trawl (n=4)
length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115
wei
ght (
kg)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22Recapture net (n=30)Trawl (n=4)
Halibut Size SelecXvity
> 5 KG; 100% (15/15)
length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115
wei
ght (
kg)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22Recapture net (n=30)Trawl (n=4)
Halibut Size SelecXvity
< 5 KG; 73% (11/15)
Halibu
t
Englis
h sole
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
Other fl
atfish
es
Rockfi
shes
Round
fishe
s
skate
s
% re
tent
ion
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
RetenXon by Weight (kg) Avg. total catch = 191 kg
Halibu
t
Englis
h sole
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
Other fl
atfish
es
Rockfi
shes
Round
fishe
s
skate
s
% re
tent
ion
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
RetenXon by Weight (kg)
FlaSish retenXon = 85.1%
Halibu
t
Englis
h sole
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
Other fl
atfish
es
Rockfi
shes
Round
fishe
s
skate
s
% re
tent
ion
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
RetenXon by Weight (kg)
Non-‐flaSish retenXon = 13.2%
Recapture net
Trawl codend
English
sole
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
Greens
triped
Chilipe
pper
Sablef
ish
Lingc
od
Halibu
t
mea
n le
ngth
(cm
)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90Trawl Recapture net
Mean Length Comparison – FlaSish Fishery
*
*
*
*
* P<0.05
*
English
sole
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
Greens
triped
Chilipe
pper
Sablef
ish
Lingc
od
Halibu
t
mea
n le
ngth
(cm
)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90Trawl Recapture net
Mean Length Comparison – FlaSish Fishery
*
*
*
*
* P<0.05
*
English
sole
Arrowtoo
th
Dover
sole
Petrale
sole
Greens
triped
Chilipe
pper
Sablef
ish
Lingc
od
Halibu
t
mea
n le
ngth
(cm
)
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90Trawl Recapture net
Mean Length Comparison – FlaSish Fishery
*
*
*
*
* P<0.05
*
In Summary
• Two BRDs were shown to reduce Pacific halibut bycatch while maintaining catches for several target species
• Deepwater DTS Complex Fishery: – posiXve results were observed overall, however, the gear’s ability to retain larger-‐sized ($) sablefish could affect fishermen’s voluntary use of this BRD
• Nearshore FlaSish Fishery: – encouraging results were observed – further tesXng of this BRD is scheduled to begin at the end of this month
Acknowledgments • NOAA Fisheries Bycatch ReducXon Engineering Program
• PSMFC and NWFSC
• F/V Miss Sue and F/V Excalibur
• Foulweather Trawl, LLC
• Victor Simon (NWFSC FRAM) collaboraXng on the set up of a wireless back deck
• 29th Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium -‐ Anchorage
Ques$ons
Halibut CondiXon
• Although viability was only assessed for halibut, most fish caught in the recapture net appeared to be in good condiXon with the excepXon to rockfishes
• Small recapture net catches and short tow duraXons likely contributed to the excellent condiXons noted
Viability Category % Excellent condition excellent poor dead
Trawl 13 1 4 72.2 Recapture net 51 0 1 98.0 Total 64 1 5 91.4