Federal Managers Finalize Turtle Interaction Measures with Hawai'i Swordfish Fishery
Hawai'i swordfish fishermen finally have a plan for loggerhead and leatherback sea turtle bycatch. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council finalized new mitigation measures last week for the shallow-set longline fishery, after waiting for the completion of a new biological opinion for more than a year.
Hawai'i-based longliners provide nearly half of the domestic swordfish to the U.S. market.
The amendment to the Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan sets an annual fleet-wide hard cap limit on the number of leatherback turtle interactions (hooked or entangled) at...
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