NEW RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLEANING UP SET GILL NETS IN CALIFORNIA WATERS

California’s Fish and Game Commission is mandating better data in light of conflicting reports on bycatch and mortality in the set gill-net halibut fishery.

The ongoing effort by marine conservation groups to clean up or phase out Southern California’s commercial set gill-net halibut fishery moved forward this summer when the state’s Fish and Game Commission’s Marine Resources Committee directed the Department of Fish and Wildlife to prioritize recommendations to improve data collection and minimize bycatch. The mandate requires the DFW to be ready with solid recommendations at the

“If we can fish cleaner, let’s do it. Let’s work forward to develop cleaner gear types.” —Wayne Kotow

November 16, 2023, MRC meeting. ¶ Lending impetus to this directive were two reports, one by Oceana and the Turtle Island Restoration Network, the other by the DFW, both presented at the MRC meeting on July 20, 2023. The reports used existing bycatch data in the set gill-net halibut fishery, but offered differing data points and interpretations of the numbers. ¶ The Oceana-tirn report found a 64 percent discard rate, with a 54 percent mortality rate. The DFW report found bycatch rates ranging from 1 to 6 percent, with discard-rate examples for various animal groups as high as 100 percent for marine mammals such as sea lions (with 100 percent mortality) to 87 percent for invertebrates (with 47 percent mortality). ¶ These discrepancies factored into the DFW’S recommendation to improve data collection. Both reports were based, at least in part, on data from the National Marine Fisheries Service onboard observer program, which was discontinued six years ago. Potential ways to improve data collection include reinstating onboard observers and electronic monitoring via onboard videos, electronic logs and other technology. ¶ Recommendations to reduce bycatch included shortened soak times (as short as 24 hours), reducing net heights (measured from the ocean floor upward), and adaptive management of season closures. To encourage phasing out the set gill-net fishery in the future,

both the DFW and the Oceanatirn reports included recommendations for making existing commercial set gill-net permits nontransferable. There are currently 90 of these permits, of which 35 are active. ¶ “The set gill-net fishery is clearly a risk to the health and resilience of California’s oceans,” says Caitlyn Birch, a Pacific marine scientist with Oceana. “These nets injure and kill myriad ocean animals, including rare and vulnerable species.” Two of those species include great white sharks and giant sea bass; both are protected, but California law currently allows for limited incidental take of both in the set gill-net fishery, a loophole that rankles marine conservationists. ¶ “If we can fish cleaner, let’s do it,” says Wayne Kotow, executive director of the Coastal Conservation Association of California, providing testimony during the meeting. “Let’s work forward to develop cleaner gear types.” CCA Cal believes California halibut and white sea bass can be targeted with more selective gear, including hook-and-line gear, greatly reducing bycatch and eliminating harm to marine mammals and sea turtles. ¶ California set gill nets were originally banned in Northern California waters back in 1915. In 1990, after Southern Californian sport fishermen noticed major declines in fish populations, anglers, conservation organizations and elected officials worked together to pass Proposition 132, which prohibited the use of set gill nets within state waters off Southern California (within 3 nautical miles of the coast). However, set gill nets are still being used in federal waters, offshore banks, and in certain areas around Southern California’s Channel Islands.