S Pelagic deep longline was widely used in targeting tunas of high economic values with other fish species caught incidentally as bycatch. Identifying characteristics of vertical distribution of fish species that interact with longline can provide critical information needed for the development of effective measures to mitigate bycatch species and is essential for ecosystem conservation. Much w...

Longline fishing is the most common elasmobranch capture method around the world, yet the physiological consequences of this technique are poorly understood. To quantify the sub-lethal effects of longline capture in the commonly exploited Caribbean reef shark (Carcharhinus perezi), 37 individuals were captured using standard, mid-water longlines. Hook timers provided hooking duration to the nea...

The history of global longline fishing illustrates the role of new technologies (e.g. vessel innovations, freezers, fishing gear), the expansion of fishing grounds, and the operational characteristics of the fleets (e.g. fleet sizes, fishing methods, product focus) in shaping today’s fishery. More recently, management regulations, the price of oil, the cost of labour, and market demand have als...

1. Industrial longline fishing has been suspected to impact upon black-footed albatross populations Phoebastria nigripes by increasing mortality, but no precise estimates of bycatch mortality are available to ascertain this statement. We present a general framework for quantifying the relationship between albatross population and longline fishing in absence of reliable estimates of bycatch rate...

This report presents descriptive statistical summaries and generalized linear model (GLM) analyses of catch data for oceanic whitetip shark Carcharhinus longimanus and silky shark C. falciformis in the Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery. This paper is a collaborative effort begun at the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in New Caledonia and completed at the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Is...

The interaction of seabirds with fisheries (particularly those using longline gear) has become an international issue, as demonstrated by the adoption of the FAO International Plan of Action for Reducing Incidental Catches of Seabirds in Longline Fisheries (IPOA-Seabirds), and resolutions and mandatory mitigation requirements by regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs). In 2004, the Ag...

The flesh-footed shearwater Puffinus carneipes is a medium-sized seabird with a single eastern Australian population breeding on Lord Howe Island. Other breeding populations exist in New Zealand, south-western Western Australia and St. Paul Island in the Indian Ocean. Tagging and banding studies indicate that breeding birds of the Lord Howe Island population inhabit waters mainly to the west of...

To date, none of the fisheries in the U.S. Pacific Islands Region is managed under a catch share program. In light of the NOAA policy to encourage the use of catch shares as a fishery management tool, the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC) listed six commercial fisheries, including the Hawaii pelagic longline fishery, the largest in the region, as potential candidates for catch ...

Fishing activities by humans can affect seabirds directly, e.g. drowning in nets, drowning while taking longline baits and use of birds as bait or food, or indirectly, e.g. through effects on prey species such as competition between humans and birds for food. This may result in changes in seabird reproductive performance and population sizes (Duffy & Schneider 1994). Longline fisheries are a th...

Pelagic longline gear had several independent evolutions, but the most widespread form appears to have been originally developed by the Japanese as early as the mid-19th century. Technological developments such as polyamide monofilament line and modern fishing vessel construction have resulted in the evolution and expansion of this gear type as the primary worldwide method of commercially harve...