Technology may aid longliners
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
New technologies that reduce the number of turtles inadvertently caught by fishermen could revive Hawai'i's longline fishery for swordfish, but are likely first to drag the issue back through the courts.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration yesterday announced that studies in the Atlantic show that new hook and bait technologies can reduce the bycatch of leatherback and loggerhead turtles by 65 percent to 90 percent.
NOAA Fisheries studies in the Atlantic, which involved longline fleets there, found the turtle take can be significantly cut with the use of a hook design, called a circle hook, and by switching from squid to mackerel for bait.
The Hawai'i longline fleet and local fishery advocates have already proposed the reopening of Hawai'i's swordfish longline industry at 50 percent of its former level, using the new by-catch reduction techniques. A decision is expected from NOAA by April 1.
Most of the world's sea turtle species are threatened, often both by fishing pressure and the predation of their eggs at nesting beaches. One argument of U.S. anglers has been that when American fleets are prevented from fishing, foreign fishing pressure simply takes their place — resulting in continued turtle take.
"If the longline swordfish fishery doesn't reopen, the longline association would sue, and if it does, one of the parties that we have represented may well sue," said Paul Achitoff, attorney with Earthjustice, whose legal challenges helped stop the Hawaiian longline fleet from fishing for swordfish.
The concern, he said, is that fishing that kills turtles needs to stop altogether — not continue at a lower level.
Achitoff said that using these arguments doesn't justify putting American longline gear back in swordfish waters. "Turtle stocks clearly cannot sustain any additional takes," he said.
But it's possible the research into new techniques for reducing turtle catches will spread to foreign fleets as well as Hawaiian fleets, said Jim Cook, legal representative for the Hawai'i Longline Association.
Cook said Japan has expressed interest in the issue, and the other major longlining nations — notably South Korea and Taiwan — will learn more as well at a meeting Jan. 15 in Kobe, Japan.
Changes in fishing gear have the support of NOAA Fisheries, said William Hogarth, the agency's director.
"The results of this study have global implications for all nations with longline fishing fleets. ... I'm asking all nations to match our efforts and evaluate these techniques in their fisheries so we can meet our shared responsibility to protect sea turtles and allow commercial fishing to prosper," Hogarth said.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
