Tes$ng’of’two’industry1designed’BRDs’ toreducePaciﬁchalibut …seagrant.uaf.edu/events/2014/wakefield-bycatch/... · 2014. 6. 9. · Concern!Over!Paciﬁc!Halibut Bycatch!!

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



> 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



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


length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90

wei

ght (

kg)

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9



5-8 KG; 70%

length (cm)60 65 70 75 80 85 90

wei

ght (

kg)

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9



< 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


# of

sab

lefis

h

0

50

100

150

200



83% 69% 38%

$0.50 $0.90 $1.45 $2.05 $2.60 $3.75 $4.25


# of

sab

lefis

h

0

50

100

150

200



83% 69% 38%

$0.50 $0.90 $1.45 $2.05 $2.60 $3.75 $4.25


# of

sab

lefis

h

0

50

100

150

200



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


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


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


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



> 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



< 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


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



*

*

*

*

* 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



*

*

*

*

* 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

Documents

Tes$ng’of’two’industry1designed’BRDs’ toreducePaciﬁchalibut …seagrant.uaf.edu/events/2014/wakefield-bycatch/... · 2014. 6. 9. · Concern!Over!Paciﬁc!Halibut Bycatch!!