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1 Seafood Watch Seafood Report Mahi Mahi (Dolphinfish) Coryphaena hippurus Monterey Bay Aquarium All Regions Final Report 01/17/07 Jesse Marsh and Robert Mazurek Fisheries Research Analysts Monterey Bay Aquarium

2 About Seafood Watch and the Seafood Reports Monterey Bay Aquarium s Seafood Watch program evaluates the ecological sustainability of wild-caught and farmed seafood commonly found in the United States marketplace. Seafood Watch defines sustainable seafood as originating from sources, whether wild-caught or farmed, which can maintain or increase production in the long-term without jeopardizing the structure or function of affected ecosystems. Seafood Watch makes its science-based recommendations available to the public in the form of regional pocket guides that can be downloaded from the Internet (seafoodwatch.org) or obtained from the Seafood Watch program by ing seafoodwatch@mbayaq.org. The program s goals are to raise awareness of important ocean conservation issues and empower seafood consumers and businesses to make choices for healthy oceans. Each sustainability recommendation on the regional pocket guides is supported by a Seafood Report. Each report synthesizes and analyzes the most current ecological, fisheries and ecosystem science on a species, then evaluates this information against the program s conservation ethic to arrive at a recommendation of Best Choices, Good Alternatives, or Avoid. The detailed evaluation methodology is available upon request. In producing the Seafood Reports, Seafood Watch seeks out research published in academic, peer-reviewed journals whenever possible. Other sources of information include government technical publications, fishery management plans and supporting documents, and other scientific reviews of ecological sustainability. Seafood Watch Fisheries Research Analysts also communicate regularly with ecologists, fisheries and aquaculture scientists, and members of industry and conservation organizations when evaluating fisheries and aquaculture practices. Capture fisheries and aquaculture practices are highly dynamic; as the scientific information on each species changes, Seafood Watch s sustainability recommendations and the underlying Seafood Reports will be updated to reflect these changes. Parties interested in capture fisheries, aquaculture practices and the sustainability of ocean ecosystems are welcome to use Seafood Reports in any way they find useful. For more information about Seafood Watch and Seafood Reports, please contact the Seafood Watch program at Monterey Bay Aquarium by calling (831) or ing seafoodwatch@mbayaq.org. Disclaimer Seafood Watch strives to have all Seafood Reports reviewed for accuracy and completeness by external scientists with expertise in ecology, fisheries science and aquaculture. Scientific review, however, does not constitute an endorsement of the Seafood Watch program or its recommendations on the part of the reviewing scientists. Seafood Watch is solely responsible for the conclusions reached in this report. Seafood Watch and Seafood Reports are made possible through a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. 1

3 Table of Contents I. Executive Summary.3 II. III. IV. Introduction...7 Analysis of Seafood Watch Sustainability Criteria for Wild-caught Species Criterion 1: Inherent Vulnerability to Fishing Pressure 12 Criterion 2: Status of Wild Stocks.13 Criterion 3: Nature and Extent of Bycatch 17 Criterion 4: Effect of Fishing Practices on Habitats and Ecosystems...36 Criterion 5: Effectiveness of the Management Regime.37 Overall Evaluation and Seafood Recommendation...39 V. References

4 I. Executive Summary Dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), also known by its Hawaiian name, mahi mahi, is a pelagic species found throughout the world s oceans. Due to life history characteristics such as an early age at maturity and a relatively short life span, dolphinfish are inherently resilient to fishing pressure. Although dolphinfish school and aggregate to floating objects, these characteristics are not thought to greatly impact their overall vulnerability to fishing pressure. The only stock assessment for dolphinfish, worldwide, is based on data from the southeast U.S. fishery. This assessment is highly uncertain, and results in a moderate conservation concern over stock status. Although a more recent assessment was conducted, this assessment did not shed any new light on the status of dolphinfish in this region due to data limitations, and the stock status is therefore unknown. Several gears are used to catch dolphinfish, including longlines, surface nets, handlines, trolls, and pole and line gear. Dolphinfish are both targeted in directed fisheries and also often landed when they are caught incidentally in the pelagic longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish. There is minimal bycatch in the handline, troll, and pole and line fisheries, but no bycatch data are available for the surface net fisheries. Bycatch in the handline, troll, and pole and line fisheries is thus a low conservation concern, while bycatch in the surface net fisheries is unknown. Bycatch data from the U.S. pelagic longline fisheries demonstrate a declining bycatch trend due to the successful implementation of bycatch mitigation measures such as circle hook requirements. This results in only a high concern for bycatch in U.S. fleets, whereas bycatch remains a critical concern in the international longline fleets. The habitat and ecosystem impacts of the handline, surface net, and dolphinfish longline fisheries are a low conservation concern. There is essentially no management of the dolphinfish fishery worldwide, with the exception of the southeast U.S. fishery, where a Fishery Management Plan (FMP) was approved for dolphinfish in 2004, which includes a number of measures designed to maintain the productivity of the dolphinfish stock. Although dolphinfish is also managed under the Pelagics FMP of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (WPFMC), there are no specific management measures in place for this species. Overall, U.S. Atlantic handline/troll/pole and line-caught dolphinfish is recommended as a Best Choice due to the minimal bycatch and ecosystem impacts of the gear, in addition to effective management of this fishery. U.S. Pacific handline/troll/pole and line-caught dolphinfish is recommended as a Good Alternative due to moderately effective management and minimal gear impacts. Handline/troll/pole and line-caught dolphinfish from the international fleet is recommended as a Good Alternative due to limited management of the fishery, as well as the lack of a stock assessment. Bycatch data for the surface fishery are unknown, and combined with other criteria this results in a recommendation of Good Alternative for surface-caught dolphinfish. Dolphinfish caught in the U.S. longline fishery is also recommended as a Good Alternative, due to the implementation of successful bycatch mitigation measures, while dolphinfish caught in the international fleet is recommended as Avoid due to ongoing bycatch concerns and the lack of a successful bycatch mitigation plan. 3

5 Table of Sustainability Ranks Conservation Concern Sustainability Criteria Low Moderate High Critical Inherent Vulnerability Status of Stocks Nature of Bycatch Habitat & Ecosystem Effects Management Effectiveness Handline, troll, pole and line U.S. Atlantic Surface nets Hawaii U.S. longline International International longline About the Overall Seafood Recommendation: A seafood product is ranked Best Choice if three or more criteria are of Low Conservation Concern (green) and the remaining criteria are not of High or Critical Conservation Concern. A seafood product is ranked Good Alternative if the five criteria average to yellow (Moderate Conservation Concern) OR if the Status of Stocks and Management Effectiveness criteria are both of Moderate Conservation Concern. A seafood product is ranked Avoid if two or more criteria are of High Conservation Concern (red) OR if one or more criteria are of Critical Conservation Concern (black). Overall Seafood Recommendation Seafood Watch Recommendation Best Choices Good Alternatives Where Caught and Gear Used Handline, troll, pole and line (U.S. Atlantic) Handline, troll, pole and line (U.S. Pacific including Hawaii) Handline, troll, pole and line (International) Surface net (International) U.S. longline Avoid International longline 4

6 Common acronyms and terms CPUE EEZ EPO FAD FFA FMP FR HMS IATTC ICCAT IOTC IUU MSY NEI NMFS PFMC SCRS SPC SBR WCPO WIO WPFMC Catch per unit effort Exclusive Economic Zone Eastern Pacific Ocean Fish Aggregating Device Forum Fisheries Agency Fishery Management Plan Federal Rule Highly Migratory Species Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas Indian Ocean Tuna Commission Illegal, unreported, and unregulated Maximum sustainable yield Nowhere else included. These landings are mostly flag of convenience landings. National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Fishery Management Council Standing Committee on Research and Statistics Secretariat of the Pacific Community Spawning biomass ratio Western and Central Pacific Ocean Western Indian Ocean Western Pacific Fishery Management Council Baitboat: Fishers use a pole with fixed length line that has a barbless hook with either an artificial lure or live bait. In this way, fish are caught one at a time, and fishers can immediately throw back any unwanted catch. Pole and line-caught is another term for baitboat-caught; throughout this report the term pole and line will be used. Longline: Longlines consist of a main horizontal fishing line that can be nautical miles long. Smaller vertical lines with baited hooks are spaced intermittently along the main line, and can be rigged to fish at various depths depending on the target species and fishing conditions. The longlines used to target tuna are pelagic longlines, and are fished in the upper water column. 5

7 Purse seine: Purse seining involves encircling a school of tuna with a long net (typically 200 m deep and 1.6 kilometers long). The net is weighted at the bottom and the top is kept at the surface of the water by a series of floats. One end of the net is pulled out from the main vessel by a skiff, which encircles the school of tuna, and the bottom of the net is then closed by a purse line run through the leadline by a series of rings. The net is then hauled in, and most of the net is broad onboard, leaving a small volume of water in the net and allowing the catch to be brought onboard using a large dip net (NRC 1992). There are several types of purse seine sets: those set on dolphins (dolphin sets); those set on floating objects or FADs (floating object sets); and those set on a school of tuna that is not associated with either dolphins or a floating object (unassociated sets). Trolling: Trolling consists of towing artificial lures with barbless hooks behind the fishing vessel (Childers 2003). Troll gear is also called jig gear; the term trolling will be used in this report. 6

8 II. Introduction Common dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), also known by its Hawaiian name, mahi mahi, is a pelagic fish found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters (Froese and Pauly 2006). Another species of dolphinfish, pompano dolphinfish (Coryphaena equiselis), is also caught in fisheries worldwide, but not as frequently as the common dolphinfish. Only common dolphinfish is evaluated in this report. In the western Atlantic, dolphinfish range from George s Bank, Nova Scotia to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SAFMC 2003). Dolphinfish is usually limited to waters warmer than 20 C (Figure 1) (Oxenford 1997). Worldwide, the catch of dolphinfish has been increasing since the 1950s (Figure 2) (FAO 2004). In 1999, Japan and Taiwan had the highest dolphinfish landings, at 9,278 mt and 8,560 mt, respectively. Common gear types used to catch dolphinfish include trolls, longlines, purse seines, and drift nets (FAO 2004). In Japanese waters, dolphinfish are caught in the set net fishery (25%), skipjack pole and line fishery (21%), surround net fishery (13%), longline fishery (12%), angling fisheries (10%), and other fisheries (20%) (Sakamoto and Kojima 1999). In the Mediterranean, dolphinfish are caught incidentally in the swordfish fishery (Massutí and Morales-Nin 1995). Dolphinfish is both targeted and caught as bycatch throughout its range; due to the migratory nature of dolphinfish, it is also a highly seasonal fishery. The catch of dolphinfish increases greatly, for example, from November to January off Brazil; fishermen in the region switch from targeting reef fishes to pelagics offshore during the summer when they are more abundant (Costa et al. 2003). Figure 1. Global distribution of dolphinfish (Figure from FAO 2004). 7

9 Figure 2. Worldwide catch of dolphinfish, (Figure from FAO 2004). In 2004, commercial fishermen in the U.S. landed 1,465 mt of dolphinfish in Hawaii (69%), Florida (15%), North Carolina (8%), and Louisiana (4%), with lesser amounts (2% or less each) in South Carolina, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Texas, California, New York, Connecticut, Alabama, and Delaware (NMFS 2006a). In the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. commercial fisheries for dolphinfish consist primarily of longline or hook and line gear (hand line, troll, rod and reel, and electric reel). Recreational catch accounts for a large portion of dolphinfish catch; in 2004 total recreational catch was 4,832 mt with the majority of the catch (65%) caught in the southeast U.S. Approximately 20% was from the Gulf of Mexico, 13% from the Caribbean, and 3% from the Mid-Atlantic (Personal communication from the National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries Statistics Division). In 2000, 54% of the dolphinfish landed in the mid-atlantic and southeast U.S. were caught by hook and line gear and 34% were caught by longlines (NMFS 2001a). Within the longline fishery there are two components: those vessels that target highly migratory species (HMS) such as swordfish and sharks and incidentally catch dolphinfish; and those vessels that target dolphinfish. Directed dolphinfish trips have been declining since the mandated switch from J hooks to circle hooks in the highly migratory species longline fishery (Anonymous, pers. comm.). These vessels have modified their gear to target dolphinfish, and switch to targeting this species once the swordfish and shark quotas have been met (SAFMC 2003). The recreational dolphinfish fishery typically accounts for approximately 87% of the total yearly domestic landings, and until 2004, there were no regulations for recreational dolphinfish fishing (Parker et al. 2006). Atlantic Ocean A number of fleets catch dolphinfish in the Atlantic; data by fleet and ocean basin are not available in the FAO database, however. Based on seasonal patterns of catch and genetic observations, Oxenford and Hunt (1986) postulated a two stock structure for dolphinfish in the 8

10 western Atlantic. Under this hypothesis, a southern stock is found east and north of South America, extending northward to the Virgin Islands. The northern stock is found north of the Virgin Islands, starting roughly at Puerto Rico and extending north to North Carolina along the U.S. Atlantic coastline. Pacific Ocean Similar to the Atlantic, a number of fleets catch dolphinfish in the Pacific, including several South and Central American fleets, as well as the Taiwanese. Incidental catches in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) longline fisheries increased from , and have declined since; these data are based on observer coverage and do not include the Indonesia, Philippines, and Taiwanese fleets (Figure 3) (SPC 2006). Ecuadorian vessels exploit the dolphinfish stock in the Panama Bight, primarily with shallow-set longlines, although surface gillnets are also used (Patterson and Martinez 1991). In Ecuador, dolphinfish is caught in both the high-seas longline and coastal fisheries (Patterson and Martinez 1991). In the late 1980s, there were 2,000 artisanal fishers operating 680 vessels in the Ecuadorian dolphinfish fishery (Patterson and Martinez 1991). Dolphinfish is also a commercially valuable species in Colombian and Panamanian fisheries; in Colombia dolphinfish is often caught in the industrial shark fleet using nets (Lasso and Zapata 1999). The most recent data available, from , suggest that 40% of dolphinfish catches in the Colombian fishery is from the artisanal longline fishery and 60% is from the surface net fishery (Lasso and Zapata 1999). Figure 3. Incidental catch of dolphinfish in the WCPO longline fisheries, excluding Indonesia, the Philippines, and Taiwan (Figure from SPC 2006). Indian Ocean In the Indian Ocean, there are limited data on the incidental take of dolphinfish, and no information regarding any targeted dolphinfish fishing. According to the Indian Ocean Tuna 9

11 Commission (IOTC) (2005a), there are little data collected on a species-by-species basis; dolphinfish is included in the non-tuna catch (Figure 4). Observer data from a western Australian longline vessel show that over half the species caught are incidentally caught; dolphinfish was the ninth most common species caught, and was landed and sold locally (IOTC 2005b). Figure 4. Catch on tunas and non-tunas in the Indian Ocean, (Figure from IOTC 2005a). Scope of the analysis and the ensuing recommendation: This evaluation encompasses common dolphinfish caught worldwide, as approximately 91% of the dolphinfish available on the U.S. market is imported. Mediterranean dolphinfish fisheries are not included, as the major suppliers of dolphinfish to the U.S. market are Taiwan, Peru, and Ecuador. Dolphinfish from Mexico is also not included in this report, as it accounts for only 0.01% of total dolphinfish imports to the U.S. Dolphinfish is not imported from Canada. Availability of Science Catch data by fleet and gear are limited, as dolphinfish is not targeted on the same scale as the more valuable tunas and swordfish. There is also limited stock status information on dolphinfish, as the only stock assessment that has been conducted is in the Atlantic and is highly uncertain. There are no international data on the bycatch levels and trends in bycatch rates in pelagic longline fisheries, although summaries for some regions have been conducted. Although individual countries may have bycatch mitigation regulations or observer programs, if these data are not available to the public they cannot be evaluated by Seafood Watch. Observer data from the WCPO is highly uncertain due to low rates of observer coverage, with an overall rate of less than 0.1% (Molony 2005). 10

12 Market Availability Common and market names: Dolphinfish is commonly sold as its Hawaiian name mahi mahi, and also as dorado. Seasonal availability: Dolphinfish is available year-round (PSG 2002). Product forms: Imported dolphinfish is usually sold as frozen fillets (NMFS 2002a). Dolphinfish landed domestically is usually sold fresh as whole fish or fillets (NMFS 2001b). Import and export sources and statistics: The majority of dolphinfish available on the U.S. market (91%) is imported, with the remaining 9% coming from U.S. fisheries (Figure 5) (NMFS 2006a). The main countries importing dolphinfish are Taiwan (34%), Peru (26%), and Ecuador (21%), followed by Panama (6%), Vietnam (5%), and Costa Rica (3%) (Figure 6); overall, imports have been increasing since Other countries importing dolphinfish (5% total) include Brazil, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan, Colombia, South Africa, Chile, Thailand, Nicaragua, Argentina, Singapore, Mexico, and Oman (NMFS 2006a). The U.S. did not export or re-export any dolphinfish in 2005 (NMFS 2006a). Metric tons US catch Imports Year Figure 5. Imports contribute the majority of dolphinfish on the U.S. market (Data from NMFS 2006a). 11

13 21% 6% 5% 3% 5% 34% TAIWAN PERU ECUADOR PANAMA VIET NAM COSTA RICA OTHER COUNTRIES 26% Figure 6. Imports of dolphinfish, Other countries are those importing 1% or less of total dolphinfish imports (Data from NMFS 2006a). III. Analysis of Seafood Watch Sustainability Criteria for Wild-caught Species Criterion 1: Inherent Vulnerability to Fishing Pressure Dolphinfish generally reach maturity at an early age, are short-lived, and exhibit high fecundity (SAFMC 2003; Froese and Pauly 2006) (Table 1). Dolphinfish is found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters, although distribution is limited to ocean temperatures above 20 C (FAO 2000). As a top level predator, dolphinfish play an important role in pelagic ecosystems, and have high energy requirements due to their rapid growth (Olson and Galván-Magaña 2002). The maximum size for dolphinfish has been reported as 200 cm in length and 28 kg, but fish between cm in length are more common (FAO 2000; SAFMC 2003; Froese and Pauly 2006). Dolphinfish grow rapidly and show average first year daily growth rates ranging from 1.6 mm fork length (FL), measured in North Carolina waters, to 4.2 mm FL, measured in the Gulf of Mexico (SAFMC 2003). Although different studies have identified variable growth rates, all show generally rapid growth. Dolphinfish reaches sexual maturity at 4 5 months (Froese and Pauly 2006) and has a maximum age of 2 5 years (Beardsley 1967; Froese and Pauly 2006). Dolphinfish school according to sex and size and aggregate under floating objects (NMFS 2001a). They migrate seasonally in aggregates of spawning schools (adults) or feeding schools (juveniles) (NMFS 2001a). The schooling behavior of dolphinfish increases their ease of capture in both commercial and recreational fisheries (Palko et al. 1982). In the Mediterranean, mature dolphinfish are commonly caught with longlines, while dolphinfish caught in nets are likely to be immature (Massutí and Morales-Nin 1997). Dolphinfish spawn year-round (NMFS 2001a) and, in captivity, adult females have been observed spawning as frequently as every two days (Kraul 1999). In a study conducted in the 12

14 Straits of Florida, fecundity ranged from 240,000 to almost three million eggs per year (Beardsley 1967). Sex ratios of fish caught tend to be female-biased although they vary according to the size of fish caught (SAFMC 2003). The batch-fecundity-length relationship is strongly exponential, ranging from 85,000 (for fish approximately mm FL) to 1.5 million (for fish approximately 1,300 1,400 mm FL) eggs per batch (SAFMC 2003). Table 1. Life history characteristics of dolphinfish. Intrinsic Rate of Increase (r) Unknown Age at Maturity 4 5 months Growth Rate vbgf 1 : L = 1,457 mm FL; k = 2.19 Max Age 2 5 years Max Size Max published length = 200 cm; and weight = 40 kg Fecundity Multiple spawning; spawns 85, million eggs Species Range Worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters warmer than 20 C Special Behaviors Attracted to FADs; schooling behavior Sources Beardsley 1967; FAO 2000; Rivera & Appledoorn 2000; SAFMC 2003; Froese & Pauly 2006 Synthesis Dolphinfish reach sexual maturity at an early age, are short-lived, and are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters. They are prolific spawners, broadcasting thousands to millions of eggs, and spawn multiple times each year. Due to these life history characteristics, dolphinfish are considered inherently resilient to fishing pressure. Inherent Vulnerability Rank: Resilient Neutral Vulnerable Criterion 2: Status of Wild Stocks While the stock structure of dolphinfish is generally unknown, it is likely more complex than that of other pelagics such as tunas and swordfish (Mahon and Oxenford 1999). In addition, stock recruitment analyses suggest that caution is warranted due to the possibility of sudden recruitment failure if the population falls below the minimum observed stock size (Mahon and Oxenford 1999). Because dolphinfish is often caught in fisheries targeting other species, catch data may not be adequate to determine dolphinfish abundance (Mahon and Oxenford 1999). Atlantic Ocean There is no Atlantic-wide assessment for dolphinfish, and the only dolphinfish stock that has been assessed is the stock in the southeast U.S. and the eastern Caribbean. The southeast U.S. stock was first assessed in Based on this stock assessment, which was highly uncertain as 1 vbgf = the von Bertalanffy growth function, which is commonly used in fisheries science to determine length as a function of age. L is asymptotic length, and k is the growth coefficient. Note that maximum size may be larger than L due to individual variation around L. 13

15 it used data from 1997 (Prager 2000), NMFS (2006b) states that dolphinfish in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico is not overfished and not experiencing overfishing (Table 2). The 2000 assessment of the southeast U.S. dolphinfish stock used fishery-dependent data to estimate an index of relative abundance based on records of fishing effort (number of hooks per set) and landings (in weight) for numerous species caught in the U.S. Atlantic longline fishery (Prager 2000). These data were selected because the fishery was not targeting schooling dolphinfish and the data therefore might represent an unbiased index of relative abundance (Prager 2000). While no data are available to assess long-term trends in stock abundance, there may be a short-term increase in dolphinfish biomass (Prager 2000). The abundance index from Prager (2000) indicates an increasing abundance trend, and the surplus production model estimates B/B MSY > 1 and F/F MSY < 1 (Figure 7). Although these results suggest that the dolphinfish stock is healthy, the author lists several sources of uncertainty in the assessment (Prager 2000, p. 14): 1. Although dolphinfish have life characteristics that make it inherently resilient to fishing pressure, excessive fishing pressure can result in localized depletions. 2. There is limited evidence supporting the current stock hypothesis. 3. The stock status of dolphinfish in the Gulf of Mexico is unknown. 4. Estimates of vital rates are several decades old. 5. The abundance index is highly uncertain. Figure 7. Estimates of relative biomass and fishing mortality, (Figure from Prager 2000). Another uncertainty hindering the assessment of the dolphinfish stock is the lack of landings and catch per unit effort (CPUE) data (a measure of catch per 1,000 hooks set) from non-u.s. fisheries. Although U.S. landings of dolphinfish are below the MSY threshold, there are currently little data showing total exploitation of the North Atlantic dolphinfish stock. Thus, it is difficult to determine if total landings (U.S. and non-u.s.) are above or below maximum sustainable yield (MSY). In the southeast U.S. and Gulf of Mexico fisheries, the combination of 14

16 increased landings, an increase in the average weight caught, and a variable or declining CPUE trend make it difficult to determine if current dolphinfish catches are sustainable (Thompson 1999). A more recent assessment was conducted in 2006, which included the eastern Caribbean stock of dolphinfish (Parker et al. 2006). For the southern stock/eastern Caribbean assessments, landings and catch data were used, although there were a lot of missing data (Parker et al. 2006). Overall, the assessment found that catch rates were stable from Due to data limitations, the model did not provide any useful results (Parker et al. 2006). Dolphinfish is targeted in a directed Venezuelan fishery with surface longlines and gillnets, and is also caught incidentally in the Venezuelan tuna and swordfish longline fisheries (Arocha et al. 1999). CPUE was relatively stable from in the industrial longline fishery, at an average of 0.1 kg/100 hooks per day (Marcano et al. 2004), while in the artisanal longline fishery CPUE has been shown to be much higher, at 23 kg/100 hooks per day (Marcano et al. 1997). Arocha et al. (1999) also found that CPUE was stable from , while dolphinfish catch increased. Catches may be under-reported, as there is evidence of illegal fishing in a Venezuelan regional Marine Protected Area (MPA) (Arocha et al. 1999). CPUE in the Bermudian fishery for dolphinfish was stable from (Luckhurst and Trott 2000). Overall, the status of dolphinfish in the Atlantic is a moderate conservation concern due to the lack of a basin-wide assessment, and the high uncertainty associated with the U.S. stock assessment. Pacific Ocean There is no Pacific-wide stock assessment for dolphinfish. The most recent analysis for dolphinfish in the central Pacific was conducted in 1991, and utilized a length-based virtual population analysis (VPA) based on the Ecuadorian fishery. The assessment was conducted following a rapid increase and subsequent decline in catches, as well as a publication concluding that overfishing could be occurring on the stock (Campbell et al. 1991; Patterson and Martinez 1991). Patterson and Martinez (1991) conclude that fishing mortality is greater than F 0.1, and thus that overfishing is likely occurring. However, these results are highly uncertain as they are now out of date, and Patterson and Martinez (1991) state that a more reliable assessment method should be used. These data cannot be used to assess the current status of dolphinfish Pacificwide, and the stock status is considered Unknown according to Seafood Watch criteria. Indian Ocean There is no assessment for dolphinfish in the Indian Ocean, and the status of this stock is considered unknown. Dolphinfish discards Dolphinfish are caught as bycatch in many fisheries, and are not always landed. In the eastern Pacific Ocean (EPO) in 2005, it is estimated that approximately 2,300 mt of dolphinfish were discarded in the floating object purse seine fishery, 200 mt in the unassociated purse seine 15

17 fishery, and 2 mt in the dolphin set purse seine fishery; from the bycatch of small dolphinfish increased (IATTC 2006). Table 2. Stock status of dolphinfish. Region Atlantic Classification Status Not overfished B/B MSY > 1.0 Pacific Unknown Unknown Occurrence of Overfishing Not occurring Likely that overfishing occurring F/F MSY < 1.0 Abundance Trends/CPUE Variable or declining CPUE trend depending on the fishery Age/Size/Sex Distribution Unknown Degree of Uncertainty in Stock Status High Unknown Variable Unknown High Sources Arocha et al. 1999; Thompson 1999; Prager 2000; Marcano et al Patterson & Martinez 1991; WPFMC 2005 SFW Rank Moderate Moderate Indian Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown High None available Moderate Synthesis In the Atlantic, dolphinfish is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring. However, longterm trends in abundance of dolphinfish are unknown. Short-term trends of dolphinfish biomass are increasing, but these findings are highly uncertain. Also, although the U.S. fishery operates below MSY, combined landings and CPUE data from countries outside of the U.S. EEZ are lacking, and it is not possible to determine if the stock as a whole is exploited above the MSY threshold. Because of the high uncertainty in the dolphinfish stock, the status of the Atlantic stock ranks as a moderate conservation concern. In all other regions, the stock status of dolphinfish is unknown due to a lack of recent and robust stock assessments, and thus is also ranked as a moderate conservation concern. Status of Wild Stocks Rank: Healthy Moderate/Unknown Poor Critical 16

18 Criterion 3: Nature and Extent of Bycatch Seafood Watch defines sustainable wild-caught seafood as marine life captured using fishing techniques that successfully minimize the catch of unwanted and/or unmarketable species (i.e., bycatch). Bycatch is defined as species that are caught but subsequently discarded (injured or dead) for any reason. Bycatch does not include incidental catch (non-targeted catch) if it is utilized, accounted for, and/or managed in some way. Dolphinfish is targeted in longline fisheries, such as those of Ecuador and Peru, and also caught incidentally in longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish. The extensive bycatch section in this report describes the bycatch of fishes, sea turtles, marine mammals, sharks, and seabirds in these longline fisheries, where dolphinfish is landed incidentally to the targeted tunas and swordfish. Seafood Watch concludes that dolphinfish caught incidentally in the longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish receives the same critical conservation rank as that given for the species targeted due to the ongoing bycatch concerns associated with this gear. Some dolphinfish are also targeted in hook and line and surface net fisheries, for which bycatch is minimal and unknown, respectively. Hook and line/handline In the hook and line and handline fisheries, bycatch is minimal due to the discriminate nature of the gear. Hook and line gear is also generally considered to have low impacts on incidentally caught species (Chuenpagdee et al. 2003). Surface Net In some fisheries, such as in the Mediterranean, surrounding nets that are shallow and do not have a purse line are used to catch dolphinfish that have aggregated around a FAD (COPEMED 2005). Other types of surface nets include gillnets, which in general are considered to have a high impact on the bycatch of incidental species such as finfish, sharks, marine mammals, and sea turtles (Chuenpagdee et al. 2003). There are, however, no readily available data on bycatch in the surface net fisheries targeting dolphinfish, thus the bycatch associated with these fisheries is unknown. For this reason, bycatch in surface net fisheries targeting dolphinfish is a moderate conservation concern. Longline Targeted longline fishery Juvenile olive ridley sea turtles are frequently caught in the Costa Rican longline fishery targeting dolphinfish with catch rates around 6.4 turtles/1,000 hooks. Most of these turtles are released alive (Swimmer et al. 2006); however, there is uncertainty associated with the physical effects and delayed mortality for the 10% of the turtles that are released with embedded hooks (Arauz et al. 2001). Work conducted in Costa Rica showed that lightly-hooked olive ridley turtles survived for at least 3.5 weeks after interacting with shallow-set longline gear (Swimmer et al. 2006); however, these results are only applicable to this sea turtle species, as other species may have different survivabilities. In addition, these findings are only applicable to shallow-set longline fisheries using circle hooks (Swimmer et al. 2006). High numbers of sharks and rays are also caught in these (Costa Rican) shallow daytime fisheries (Y. Swimmer, pers. comm.). 17

19 In Colombia, shark bycatch is much greater than the dolphinfish catch (Luis Zapata, pers. comm. in Watts and Wu 2005), and there are reports of illegal fishing in the Galapagos targeting pelagics such as tunas, swordfish, and dolphinfish (Watts and Wu 2005). A hook exchange program in place in many Central and South American countries has promising results, although the results are considered preliminary. In the dolphinfish fisheries in Ecuador and Peru, J hooks and 15/0 and 14/0 circle hooks were tested to see if the hooking rate of sea turtles would be reduced by switching from J hooks to circle hooks. Tests were done to determine the frequency of hooking event, as well as the location of hooking, which can affect survivorship (Y. Swimmer, pers. comm.). The results of these tests differed by region and hooktype (Figure 8) (IATTC 2006); circle hooks reduced the hooking rate of sea turtles in some regions, but not in others. Overall, the hook exchange program in Ecuador has resulted in 115 participating vessels (there are a few thousand small fibras and several hundred larger ones operating in Ecuadorian waters) and circle hooks were shown to result in higher survivability due to the type of hooking (Largacha et al. 2005). The reduction in sea turtle mortality in the Ecuadorian dolphinfish fishery is estimated at 41 93% (Largacha et al. 2005); however, the catch rates of dolphinfish also declined using the new circle hooks, and this must be addressed prior to fleet-wide acceptance of this new hook type (Largacha et al. 2005). Olive ridleys were the most common sea turtle species entangled and/or hooked in the Ecuadorian dolphinfish fishery, followed by green and hawksbill sea turtles (Largacha et al. 2005). Populations of olive ridleys other than the breeding Pacific Mexican population are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). Seafood Watch applauds the efforts of government and non-government organizations and fishermen involved in the hook-exchange program; however, as stated in Largacha et al. (2005, p. 24), the data from the mahi-mahi fishery should be considered as very preliminary. Therefore, until the results of the hook exchange program are not preliminary, and the majority of vessels are known to be successfully implementing circle hooks, Seafood Watch must be precautionary and conclude that bycatch in these fisheries remains a critical conservation concern. Another concern is the entanglement of sea turtles in the main line, and future field work is planned to test possible ways to reduce this entanglement. In addition, shark bycatch is high in many of these fisheries. Dolphinfish is also targeted in the tuna, billfish, shark (TBS) longline fisheries in Central America, where the preliminary circle hook experiments have shown to be more successful at reducing the hooking rate of sea turtles (Figure 9) (IATTC 2006). In Peru, dolphinfish is one of the main species targeted in the artisanal longline fishery, in addition to blue and shortfin mako sharks (Goya and Cárdenas 2003). The dolphinfish fishery is highly seasonal, with the number of boats increasing in the months when dolphinfish is more abundant (Goya and Cárdenas 2003). There is limited information on seabird bycatch in the Peruvian longline fisheries; the only data available are from a 1999 survey of the artisanal longline fishery in northern Peru, which suggests that seabird bycatch ranges from /1,000 hooks. The most common species caught in the survey were albatrosses (42%), boobies (22%), pelicans (18%), and petrels (13%) (Goya and Cárdenas 2003). There are currently no seabird mitigation measures in this fishery (Goya and Cárdenas 2003). The seabird 18

20 CPUE in this fishery is much higher than the seabird CPUE in the Hawaiian longline fishery. Another potential issue in the artisanal Peruvian longline fishery is the use of dolphins (Delphinus spp.) and porpoises as bait in the dolphinfish fishery (Anonymous, pers. comm.). Figure 8. Number of sea turtles hooked (per 1,000 hooks) in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian dolphinfish longline fisheries while testing the control J hooks and 15/0 and 14/0 circle hooks. In some cases the 14/0 circle hooks had higher hooking rates than the control J hooks (Figure from IATTC 2006). Figure 9. Number of sea turtles hooked (per 1,000 hooks) in the TBS longline fisheries of Peru, Ecuador, Panama, and Costa Rica while testing control J hooks and 16/0 circle hooks. In the Central American countries, dolphinfish are also targeted in the TBS fisheries (Figure from IATTC 2006). In the southeast U.S. dolphinfish fishery in 2004, the most common gears used were longlines (67%), handlines (19%), troll (8%), rod and reel (4%), and electric or hydraulic reel (2%) (NMFS 2006a). The hook and line catch included catch from the recreational fleet because they sell their catch (SAFMC 2003). The gear used in the longline fishery targeting dolphinfish in the southeast U.S. fishery differs from other longline fisheries in that it uses 5/0 circle hooks, which are smaller than the circle hooks typically used in longline fisheries, and the gear is also hauled back immediately (SAFMC 2003). This presumably reduces the bycatch of unwanted and 19

21 protected species in this fishery. In the southeast U.S. dolphinfish/wahoo fishery, discards are low (200 mt) compared to landings (5,600 mt); the discards to landings ratio is 0.03 and the major discarded species groups are swordfish, tunas, and sharks (Harrington et al. 2005). However, a major limitation of the bycatch data is that discards in the recreational fishery are not included (Harrington et al. 2005). Incidental longline fishery Dolphinfish is also caught incidentally in longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish. Because dolphinfish is caught in these fisheries, it receives the same bycatch ranking as the tuna and swordfish longline fleets. For many of the longline fisheries, there are no consistent bycatch data (IATTC 2004). Moreover, some fishing nations have detailed observer data while many others have none. When examining the effects of bycatch, both the level of bycatch and the population effects of this bycatch must be considered (Lewison et al. 2004a). Many of the species caught as bycatch in the longline fishery are long-lived, late-maturing, and slow-growing. These species are particularly vulnerable to excessive mortality (Musick 1999). Additionally, in general, catch data may underestimate the total mortality of certain bycatch species, as hooked animals may fall off hooks prior to lines being retrieved (Ward et al. 2004). The existence of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels also introduces added uncertainty to the issue of bycatch in the pelagic longline fishery. For instance, the incidental mortality of certain bycatch species, such as seabirds, may be substantial on these vessels, but the magnitude of this bycatch is unknown (Tuck et al. 2003). It is believed that IUU fishing is more prevalent in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans than it is in the Pacific (Tuck et al. 2003). While pelagic longlines are set at different depths and configured to target specific species, nontarget species are known to interact with this gear. In longline fisheries, interactions occur with a range of species, including endangered and protected sea turtles, seabirds, marine mammals, sharks, and other fishes. These non-target animals approach or are attracted to baited longline hooks and may become hooked or entangled in the gear, causing them to be injured or drown (NMFS 2001c). Tuna are caught using deep-set longline gear, which generally results in one tenth the bycatch rates in the shallow-set fishery targeting swordfish (Lewison et al. 2004b; Kaplan 2005). Dolphinfish are caught incidentally in both of these set-types; however, mortality rates for some bycatch species, including sea turtles, are higher for deep-set longlines as the animals cannot surface to breathe. Although comprehensive global bycatch data for longlines are non-existent, there are some data for specific longline fisheries. Longline gear varies according to the size and intensity of the fishery, the configuration of the gear, the region in which the gear is used, and the country fishing with the gear. Although these differences may result in differing levels of bycatch, Seafood Watch adopts a precautionary approach in assuming that problematic bycatch levels in one longline fishery are similar to other longline fisheries, unless there are data to show otherwise. The average discard rate, or the proportion of total catch that is discarded, is 22% for global highly migratory species (HMS) longline fisheries (Kelleher 2005). In the U.S., the discard to landings ratio for finfish in the HMS fishery (pelagic longline, bottom longline, and 20

22 drift/set gillnets) is estimated to be The discard to landings ratio for the pelagic longline fishery alone is 0.67, with swordfish and sharks comprising the major species groups that are discarded (Harrington et al. 2005). Of all the gears used to catch tuna in the Atlantic (and dolphinfish incidentally), longlines catch the highest diversity of both fish and seabirds (ICCAT 2005a); however, overall seabird bycatch is lower in the Atlantic than in other ocean basins. As evidenced by observer data in the WCPO, mortality rates differ for the various types of longlines (Figure 10). A. WCPO shallow-set B. WCPO deep-set C. Temperate albacore Figure 10. Mortality rates in the A. WCPO shallow set longline fishery, B. WCPO deep set longline fishery, and C. temperate albacore fishery. The x-axis is mortalities per 100 hooks and the y-axis is year. Noting the change in scale for each panel, sea turtle mortalities were highest in the deep set fishery and shark mortalities were highest in the shallow set fishery (Figure from Molony 2005). Fishes: bycatch rates Discards of swordfish and tuna in the U.S. Atlantic pelagic longline fishery generally exhibited a gradual decline from (NMFS 2006c). Discards of these target species may be economic or regulatory discards. The only fish species for which discards were higher than landings was bluefin tuna. In 2004, the most recent year for which data are available, twice as many bluefin tuna were discarded than were kept (NMFS 2006c). For highly migratory species, both the number of individuals kept and the number of individuals discarded have declined over this time period, as has fishing effort (NMFS 2004a). The reason for these declines is unknown. Longline fisheries targeting tunas and swordfish (and incidentally catching dolphinfish) are responsible for the majority of the fishing mortality of blue and white marlin (Goodyear 1999; Peel at el. 2003). In the Atlantic, the commercial sale of billfish was prohibited in 1991, and although the reported catch of billfish dropped greatly after this (Goodyear 1999), it is likely that reported bycatch rates in the logbooks are underestimates of the actual bycatch rates, based on 21

23 observer coverage (Cramer 1996). For fisheries where logbook data are available, the catch ratio of billfish to the targeted species is low. Billfish catch is approximately 5% of the total combined catch of albacore, yellowfin, bigeye, bluefin, and southern bluefin (Uozumi 2003). Non-tuna species caught in the WCPO longline fisheries include black marlin, blue marlin, Indo- Pacific sailfish, shortbill spearfish, striped marlin, swordfish, blue shark, mako sharks, oceanic whitetip shark, silky shark, other shark and ray species, barracudas, common dolphinfish, escolars, lancetfishes, oilfish, ocean sunfish, opah, pomfrets, wahoo, and other fishes (Lawson 2004). While some of these species are kept in some fisheries and are thus not deemed bycatch, others such as moonfish and pomfret are largely discarded. Industrialized fisheries in the WCPO often retain billfish and shark catch (Molony 2005). It is important to note that recreational catch-and-release fisheries for billfish species also contribute to total mortality rates (over 99% of all white marlin, for instance, are released in recreational fisheries Goodyear and Prince 2003), although the magnitude of these mortalities is far less than for the pelagic longline fishery. The survival of released marlin may be affected by the type of hook used, as in the western North Atlantic recreational fishery, white marlin survival is higher when caught on circle hooks (100%) than it is when caught on J-hooks (65%) (Horodysky and Graves 2005). In addition, there are little data examining survival rates following stomach eversion (Horodysky and Graves 2005). Although this mortality affects the stock status of billfish, Seafood Watch does not incorporate recreational fisheries effects when evaluating commercial fisheries, although recreational fishing mortality may be accounted for in stock assessments. The mortality of billfish in longline fisheries targeting swordfish and tunas (and incidentally catching dolphinfish) varies according to fishery and species. When data sets from the U.S., Japanese, and Venezuelan fisheries were combined, the proportion of billfish that were dead when the gear was retrieved ranged from for blue marlin in the Gulf of Mexico to for white marlin in the northwest Atlantic (Farber and Lee 1991). Observer data from Japanese fisheries in Australia suggest that 74% of black marlin, 71% of blue marlin, and 60% of striped marlin were dead or moribund when the gear was retrieved (Findlay et al. 2003). There are, however, differences in billfish mortality rates in different fisheries operating in the same waters; Japanese and Australian fisheries operating in the same waters have been shown to have different billfish mortality rates due to differences in gear configuration (Findlay et al. 2003). According to the most recently available logbook data for the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery, discards of blue marlin declined from , but have been somewhat stable since 1998, averaging 1,160 individuals discarded annually from (NMFS 2004a). White marlin discards exhibited a similar pattern, with an average of 1,404 individuals discarded annually from (NMFS 2004a). The Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery targeting tuna and swordfish (and incidentally catching dolphinfish) also catches, and often lands, several billfish species including blue and striped marlin. There are no specific management measures for either of these marlin species (Dalzell and Boggs 2003). CPUE data for striped marlin in Hawaiian fisheries from indicate a declining trend in the recreational, commercial longline, and commercial troll fisheries (Dalzell and Boggs 2003); however, CPUE data may not be an accurate indicator of abundance 22

24 due to increases in the proportion of the fleet setting deep-set longlines. The most recent stock assessment shows that stocks are at about the MSY level, and given the uncertainty with the assessment the results could be more optimistic (Kleiber et al. 2003). While the population could have been subject to F > F MSY over the past several decades, high recruitment maintained the population near B MSY. Deep-set longlines are likely to have lower marlin bycatch rates than shallow-set longlines targeting swordfish (Dalzell and Boggs 2003). In the Indian Ocean, 2005 observer data from Western Australia longline vessels suggest that more than half of the species caught that year were bycatch, the most common of which were sharks. While some bycatch species are kept and sold, such as dolphinfish, there is no market for other species that are commonly caught, such as stingrays (IOTC 2005b). Fishes: population impacts The stock status of billfish species varies by ocean basin and species (Table 3). In the Atlantic, biomass estimates for blue marlin, white marlin, and sailfish are all below B MSY, while fishing mortality on these stocks is above F MSY (Peel et al. 2003; Uozumi 2003). The Atlantic blue marlin stock is at 40% of B MSY, current fishing mortality is four times F MSY, and overfishing has been occurring for the last years (ICCAT 2001a). The pelagic longline fisheries targeting yellowfin and bigeye tuna and swordfish cause the highest Atlantic marlin mortality (Peel et al. 2003). The only management measure in place for Atlantic blue marlin is reduced pelagic longline and purse seine landings to 50% of 1996 or 1999 levels, whichever is greater (ICCAT 2001a). White marlin occurs only in the Atlantic; the most recent assessment for this species was in 2000, and indicated that biomass throughout the late 1990s was about 15% of B MSY, while fishing mortality was more than five times F MSY (ICCAT 2001a). As with blue marlin, the only management measure in place for white marlin is a limit on longline and purse seine landings to 33% of the 1996 or 1999 level (ICCAT 2001a). For Atlantic sailfish, MSY is not estimated and there are no management measures in place (ICCAT 2001b). Observer data from the U.S. pelagic longline fishery in the Atlantic show that the number of bluefin tuna discarded has been higher than the number kept every year from Both East and West Atlantic bluefin stocks are overfished and experiencing overfishing, and are considered overexploited and depleted, respectively (NMFS 2004a; Majkowski 2004). Any dead discarding of bluefin tuna in Atlantic pelagic longline fisheries removes individuals from stocks that are already in critical shape, thus warranting a critical conservation concern for these longline fisheries. Although no stock assessments were conducted for marlin, sailfish, and spearfish in the Indian Ocean in the 1990s, previous assessments indicate that biomass of blue marlin, striped marlin, and black marlin are either at or above MSY (Uozumi 2003). The status of sailfish and spearfish in the Indian Ocean is unknown. Therefore, high uncertainty exists concerning the status of these stocks, as well as the level of discarding. Catch of non-tuna species has not been well documented in the Indian Ocean, and the level of discarding in the industrial fisheries may be high based on data from other oceans (IOTC 2005b). The level of bycatch in the artisanal fisheries in the Indian Ocean is likely very low (IOTC 2005b). 23

25 In contrast to the Atlantic, blue and striped marlin biomass is either at or above the MSY level in the Pacific. In addition, current fishing mortality is below F AMSY (fishing mortality at which the average maximum sustainable yield is produced) for striped marlin (Hinton and Maunder 2004). The status of black marlin, sailfish, and spearfish is unknown in the Pacific (Uozumi 2003). Blue marlin in the Pacific is close to being fully exploited, although due to model uncertainty the situation may be more optimistic (Kleiber et al. 2003). There is uncertainty associated with stock assessment results derived from production models due to uncertainty in catch and abundance indices, particularly as these data are from fisheries that do not target billfish (Uozumi 2003). In addition, changes in both spatial coverage and vertical coverage over time may result in a misinterpretation of CPUE data for billfish if changes in the fisheries do not adequately cover billfish habitat (Uozumi 2003). At this time, there does not appear to be a critical conservation concern associated with billfish bycatch in the Pacific, although caution is warranted, as the stock status of many billfish species is unknown. Billfish bycatch in the Atlantic, however, is a critical conservation concern due to the poor stock status of these species, as well as the bycatch of bluefin tuna. Table 3. Stock status of billfish in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans (Table from Uozumi 2003). Species Stock Stock status Atlantic blue marlin Atlantic Lower than MSY White marlin Atlantic Lower than MSY Atlantic sailfish East Atlantic Lower than MSY Longbill spearfish Atlantic Unknown Indo-Pacific blue marlin Indian At MSY level Striped marlin Indian Higher than MSY Black marlin Indian At MSY level Indo-Pacific sailfish Indian Unknown Shortbill spearfish Indian Unknown Indo-Pacific blue marlin Pacific Higher than MSY Striped marlin North Pacific At or higher than MSY Black marlin Pacific Unknown Indo-Pacific sailfish Pacific Unknown Shortbill spearfish Pacific Unknown Sea turtles: bycatch rates Several studies demonstrate that sea turtle bycatch occurs in many fisheries across most ocean basins. Although there is not observer coverage or logbook data for every fishery targeting tuna, the available data suggest that sea turtle bycatch is an issue in many, if not all, of these fisheries. All seven species of sea turtle are listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act of 1978, and six of these species are also listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Table 4). Some of these sea turtle species are caught as bycatch in the pelagic longline fisheries targeting tuna and swordfish (and incidentally catching dolphinfish). Sea turtles are more commonly caught as bycatch in tropical waters, and more often in shallow-set fisheries targeting species such as swordfish (Beverly et al. 2004). As evidenced by the closure of the U.S. longline fishery in the Northeast Distant Waters (NED), sea turtles are also caught as bycatch in other regions. Loggerhead sea turtles have been shown to spend the majority of their time at depths shallower than 100 m, thus the elimination of shallow-set longlines would result in reduced bycatch of loggerheads (Polovina et al. 2003). Even in deep-set longlines, however, 24

26 there is the potential for hooks to be present at shallow depths when the gear is being set and retrieved, or if the line does not sink to the appropriate depth (Polovina et al. 2003). Turtles can be hooked in the esophagus or in the jaw (as well as in the flipper); some studies have found that there does not appear to be a difference in survivability between lightly and deeply-hooked turtles (Polovina et al. 2000; Parker et al. in press). Leatherback sea turtles are attracted to squid bait used on longlines (Skillman and Balazs 1992), and commonly get entangled in the lead lines even if they don t bite the hook (NMFS and USFWS 1998). Estimates of sea turtle post-release mortality using satellite tracking has been both controversial and problematic (Hays et al. 2003; Chaloupka et al. 2004a; Chaloupka et al. 2004b; Hays et al. 2004a) with estimates ranging from 0.08 for lightly-hooked turtles to 0.38 for deeply hooked turtles (Chaloupka et al. 2004a). In general, takes greatly exceed documented mortalities in longline fisheries, although there are little data on delayed mortality. Table 4. Global conservation status of sea turtles that interact with pelagic longline fisheries. Species Status under the U.S. ESA Status on the IUCN Red List Green Threatened, Endangered Endangered Hawksbill Endangered Critically endangered Kemp s ridley Endangered Critically endangered Leatherback Endangered Critically endangered Loggerhead Threatened Endangered Olive ridley Threatened, Endangered Endangered Although more countries are beginning to collect bycatch data, they are generally not available and therefore a thorough analysis of sea turtle bycatch interactions with international vessels is difficult. However, Lewison et al. (2004b) attempted to quantify the incidental take of loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles on a global scale. By integrating catch data from more than 40 nations and bycatch data from 13 international observer programs, they estimated that over 200,000 loggerhead and 50,000 leatherback sea turtles were taken as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries in the year This amounted to 30,000 to 75,000 loggerhead and 20,000 to 40,000 leatherback sea turtles caught as bycatch in the Pacific Ocean alone (Lewison et al. 2004b). These authors suggest that a large number of interactions with protected species continue regularly with the international longline fleet, and jeopardize the continued survival of these endangered and threatened sea turtle species. Other studies estimate that sea turtle takes are much lower in the Pacific; Hatase et al. (2002), for example, estimate that in 2000 international pelagic longline fisheries resulted in 800 to 1,266 loggerhead takes and 139 to 222 loggerhead mortalities. Moreover, certain areas in the Pacific may have less sea turtle bycatch than other areas; for instance, leatherbacks have rarely or never been seen in the waters of American Samoa, Guam, the Republic of Palau, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia (NMFS and USFWS 1998), thereby reducing the potential for fishery interactions in these areas. It is estimated that Australian longline vessels incidentally take about 400 turtles per year, which is lower than estimates from other longline fisheries (Robins et al. 2002). The average catch rate of sea turtles in the Australian longline fishery is estimated at turtles/1,000 hooks (Robins et al. 2002). Bycatch rates in the temperate western Pacific have 25

27 been estimated at turtles/1,000 hooks for both deep-set fresh and freezer vessels, with annual estimates of 129 and 564 turtle takes, respectively (Robins et al. 2002). Observer data from <1% of the longline fleet in the WCPO suggest that 2,182 turtles are taken in this fishery annually, with a 23 27% mortality rate (OFP 2001 in NMFS 2005a). The highest CPUEs are in the tropical shallow-set longline fishery, although the highest mortalities are in the tropical deep set fishery, and turtle bycatch is lower in the temperate albacore fishery (Molony 2005). The Japanese tuna longline fleet is estimated to take 6,000 turtles annually in the eastern tropical Pacific (ETP), with a 50% mortality rate (IATTC 2004b). Sea turtle bycatch rates in the Costa Rican longline fleet have been estimated ranging from turtles/1,000 hooks with an 8.8% mortality rate to 14.4 turtles/1,000 hooks with a 0% mortality rate (Arauz 2001). Sea turtle mortalities in the Hawaii-based longline fishery have dropped considerably since the 2001 closure of the shallow-set swordfish fishery (Figure 11). From , interactions with green turtles remained relatively stable, leatherback and olive ridley interactions increased, and loggerhead interactions declined to zero in both 2003 and 2004 (NMFS 2005a; PIRO 2005a). In 2004, it was estimated that 0 loggerheads, 15 leatherbacks, 46 olive ridleys, and 5 green turtles were taken as bycatch in the Hawaiian deep-set longline fishery (PIRO 2005a). The maximum number of leatherback interactions allowed in the shallow-set fishery is 16; if this number is reached in the shallow-set fishery the fishery is closed. This regulation does not apply to the deep-set fishery, however. In 2004, the first year that the shallow-set fishery targeting swordfish opened, two sea turtles, one leatherback and one loggerhead, were observed as takes; both were released injured (PIRO 2005a). However, 2004 data from the shallow-set fishery should not be considered a source of new information due to low fishing effort (NMFS 2005a). With 26.1% observer coverage in the deep-set fishery in 2005, four olive ridleys were observed as released dead and one leatherback was released injured ; with 100% observer coverage in the shallow-set fishery, 10 loggerheads and eight leatherbacks were released injured (PIRO 2005a). As of the writing of this report in 2005, one olive ridley had been released dead in the deep-set fishery, and 5 leatherbacks had been released injured in the shallow-set fishery (PIRO 2005a). Mortality rates based on observer rates are 0.86 for green turtles, 0.34 for leatherbacks, 0.44 for loggerheads, and 0.96 for olive ridleys (Boggs 2005 in NMFS 2005a). 26

28 Figure 11. Sea turtle mortalities in and projected for 2005 in the Hawaii-based longline fleet (Figure from NMFS 2005a). Off the southern coast of Brazil, loggerheads and leatherbacks have been taken in the longline fishery targeting swordfish, sharks, and tunas (including Thunnus albacares, T. alalunga, and T. obesus) (Kotas et al. 2004). Over the course of three trips and 34 sets, 145 loggerheads (4.31/1,000 hooks) and 20 leatherbacks (0.59/1,000 hooks) were taken (Kotas et al. 2004). Of these turtles, 19 loggerheads and 1 leatherback were released dead (Kotas et al. 2004). These mortality levels may be underestimated, however, due to post-release mortality related to hooking wounds and stress from capture (Kotas et al. 2004). It has been estimated that in 2000, Japanese longline vessels targeting tuna in the eastern Pacific resulted in 25 leatherback mortalities (166 total leatherback takes) and approximately 3,000 mortalities of all other sea turtle species, most of which were olive ridleys (IATTC 2004b). In Uruguay, loggerhead and leatherback bycatch has been estimated at 1.8 individuals/1,000 hooks, with incidental mortality at 1.9% (Achaval et al. 1998). Although the pelagic longline fishery in the Atlantic interacts with other sea turtle species, loggerheads and leatherbacks are the primary concern due to their high interaction rates. Sea turtle bycatch estimates for the U.S. pelagic longline fishery in the Atlantic in 2002 were 575 loggerhead takes 2 (2 mortalities), 962 leatherback takes (33 mortalities), and 50 unidentified turtle takes (NMFS 2004b). The number of loggerhead and leatherback turtle takes was generally stable from , although there was a peak in loggerhead takes in Though total loggerhead takes appear high in the Atlantic longline fisheries, the estimated mortalities are low; the average annual loggerhead morality from was 7 individuals, 2 These take estimates do not include any estimates of post-release mortality. 27

29 with an estimated 2 loggerheads killed in 2002 (NMFS 2004b). The mortality data for leatherbacks are far more variable, with an estimated 88 leatherbacks killed in 1992, and then zero mortalities until 2002, when 33 leatherbacks were estimated killed in this fishery (NMFS 2004b). The estimated zero mortalities may be a reflection of the low level of observer coverage in this fishery, rather than low sea turtle bycatch, however; from , observer coverage ranged from % (NMFS 2004b). The 2004 Biological Opinion (BiOp) found that the expected number of takes and mortalities in the Atlantic HMS fishery is likely to reduce the survival or recovery of leatherbacks. For the pelagic longline fishery, the most effective management measures are likely gear modifications, rather than area closures (which potentially result in the displacement of effort to other areas where bycatch may be higher) (James et al. 2005). Hook and gear modifications were required in the U.S. Atlantic pelagic longline fishery in mid-2004, and in 2005 the take of leatherbacks was greatly reduced (NMFS 2006c). If this declining trend continues, the conservation concern for this fishery will continue to be ranked differently than the international longline fleets. Mexican longline vessels targeting tuna in the Gulf of Mexico have been shown to catch 5 turtles/100 trips with incidental mortality at 1.6 turtles/100 trips (Ulloa Ramírez and González Ania 2000). Additional bycatch estimates from longline fisheries in the southeast U.S. found that the CPUE for loggerheads and leatherbacks combined was 0.37/1,000 hooks from 86 sets (Achaval et al. 2000). With over 13 million hooks set in 1999 by Brazilian boats alone in the southwest Atlantic (ICCAT 2001c), the potential for large amounts of sea turtle bycatch is high. In addition, fishery closures in the North Atlantic due to overfished species such as swordfish and tunas may result in effort being displaced to the South Atlantic, possibly increasing sea turtle bycatch there (Kotas et al. 2004). Lewison et al. (2004b) estimate that 1.4 billion hooks were set on pelagic longline gear in the year 2000 alone, with 1.2 billion of those hooks targeting tunas. In the Indian Ocean, South African observer data suggest a catch rate of 0.05 turtles/1,000 hooks; turtles were alive in 85% of these interactions (IOTC 2005b). In the eastern Atlantic, olive ridleys and leatherbacks have been observed interacting with longlines targeting swordfish and tunas, with a CPUE of 0.09 for olive ridleys and 0.39 for leatherbacks (Carranza et al. 2006). In the Gulf of Guinea, the CPUE for olive ridleys was 0.38 and the CPUE for leatherbacks was 0.64 (Carranza et al. 2006). Of the 40 leatherbacks caught, 5% were observed mortalities (Carranza et al. 2006). There are no estimates for post-release mortality for either of these species in this study. All these studies demonstrate that sea turtle bycatch occurs in many fisheries across most ocean basins. Although there is not observer coverage or logbook data for every fishery targeting tuna, the available data suggest that sea turtle bycatch is an issue in many, if not all, of these fisheries. Sea turtles: population impacts Sea turtle populations face several threats including incidental take in fisheries, the killing of nesting females, egg collection at nesting beaches, habitat loss, and pollution and debris. The population impacts of sea turtle bycatch vary according to the sea turtle species and the region. In the Pacific Ocean, nesting populations of both loggerheads and leatherbacks have exhibited 28

30 severe declines, with loggerheads exhibiting an 80 86% decline over the last 20 years (Kamezaki et al. 2003; Limpus and Limpus 2003) and leatherbacks exhibiting a decline of greater than 95% (Crowder 2000; Spotila et al. 2000) over the same time period. The number of nesting females at several nesting beaches in Japan have been declining since 1990 (Sato et al. 1997), and population declines of loggerheads nesting in Japan have been attributed to the bycatch of small females in pelagic longline fisheries in the Pacific (Hatase et al. 2002). More recent data suggest that loggerhead nesting is increasing on some Japanese beaches (I. Kinan, pers. comm.; Sea Turtle Association of Japan unpubl. data). Some sea turtle species, such as green turtles in the Hawaiian Islands, are recovering (Balazs and Chaloupka 2004); however, there is an overall declining trend for green turtle abundance worldwide (Seminoff 2004). While research has shown that leatherbacks have migratory pathways in the Pacific, the same is not true in the Atlantic, where leatherbacks are likely to disperse widely from the main nesting beaches in French Guiana and Suriname (Ferraroli et al. 2004; Hays et al. 2004b). The distribution of leatherbacks in the Atlantic also shows that these animals spend time and forage in the same areas and depths where pelagic longline fisheries operate (Ferraroli et al. 2004; Hays et al. 2004b). Spotila et al. (2000) estimate that if leatherbacks in the eastern Pacific can only sustain 1% annual anthropogenic mortality, this is equal to the loss of 17 adult females and 13 subadult females per year. The 2005 BiOp on the Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery concluded that the continued authorization of this fishery is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of green, leatherback, loggerhead, and olive ridley sea turtles (NMFS 2005a). Population data for leatherbacks in the Atlantic are uncertain and conflicting. However, the main nesting beaches in French Guiana and Suriname have exhibited a declining trend, with nesting declining at about 15% annually (NMFS 2004b). Leatherback bycatch in the Atlantic pelagic longline fishery has more severe population consequences than loggerhead bycatch for several reasons. Approximately half of the leatherbacks taken in the pelagic longline fishery are mature breeders while the other half are sub-adults; because leatherbacks are sexually mature in 5 15 years, the bycatch of leatherback sub-adults has more severe population consequences than for loggerheads, which mature later (NMFS 2004b). Using the estimates of turtle bycatch from Lewison et al. (2004b), as well as estimates of post interaction mortality, sex ratio data, and adult to juvenile ratio data, total leatherback mortality for adult females was estimated at 4,100 leatherbacks per year in the international fisheries in the Atlantic and Mediterranean (NMFS 2004b). While the U.S. longline fleet in the Atlantic accounts for only % of this mortality per year, the annual mortality of adult and sub-adult female leatherbacks in the U.S. fishery is not discountable (NMFS 2004b p. 6-8). In addition, there is considerable uncertainty associated with the status and trends of leatherbacks in the Atlantic. It has been shown that a combination of 18/0 circle hooks and mackerel bait reduces loggerhead interaction rates by 90% and leatherback interactions by 65% (Watson et al. 2005). The 2004 BiOp concludes that the proposed management measures in the U.S. Atlantic pelagic longline fishery are likely to jeopardize the continued existence of leatherbacks, but not the existence of the other turtle species that are taken as bycatch in this fishery. NMFS jeopardy finding was based on estimated annual mortalities in the U.S. fishery of approximately 200 leatherbacks, continuing indefinitely (NMFS 2004b). 29

31 Seabirds: bycatch rates There are an estimated 61 seabird species that are affected by longline fisheries, 25 of which are threatened with extinction as a result of being caught as bycatch in longlines (Brothers et al. 1999). Estimates for seabird bycatch in longline fisheries in the North Pacific alone are approximately 35,000 albatrosses taken per year (Cousins et al. 2001). In addition, observed mortalities of seabirds may be underestimated, as seabirds may fall from hooks before being hauled on deck (Cousins and Cooper 2000; Ward et al. 2004); mortality estimates for some seabirds may be underestimated by as much as 45% (Ward et al. 2004). According to the FAO (1998), tuna longlines in the temperate waters of the North Pacific and in the Southern Ocean catch large numbers of seabirds as bycatch. Lewison and Crowder (2003) estimate that approximately 10,000 black-footed albatrosses are killed each year in all of the fleets in the North Pacific, and this level of mortality is likely contributing to population declines. The U.S. rate was estimated at 2,000 individuals per year while the international rate was estimated, as a moderate-case scenario, at 8,000 individuals per year (Lewison and Crowder 2003). In the northeast Pacific, black-footed albatrosses have been shown to overlap with the distribution of longline fisheries both spatially and temporally (Hyrenbach and Dotson 2003). Recent data from the Hawaii-based deep-set longline fishery indicate that takes of black-footed and Laysan albatrosses have declined, with only 16 black-footed and 10 Laysan albatrosses estimated taken in 2004 (Figure 12); these numbers are far lower than they were in the 1990s, when upwards of 3,200 seabirds were taken per year (PIRO 2005a). As of the writing of this report in 2005, 11 black-footed albatrosses, 6 Laysan albatrosses, and 1 brown booby had been released dead in the deep-set Hawaii fishery; observer coverage was 16.3% in the first quarter, 22.7% in the second quarter, and 37.9% in the third quarter (PIRO 2005b). One cause of this dramatic decline in seabird bycatch is a side-setting technique that eliminates virtually all bird takes in longlines, which is now used by the Hawaii-based fleet and mandated by law: Depending on the fishing method and area where the vessels operate, owners and operators of longline fishing vessels must either side-set (deploy longline gear from the side of the vessel rather than from the stern) or use a combination of other seabird mitigation measures to prevent seabirds from being accidentally hooked, entangled, and killed during fishing operations (50 CFR Part 660). 30

32 Figure 12. Total estimated takes of black-footed (BFAL) and Laysan albatrosses (LAAL) in the Hawaii-based longline fishery, (Figure from PIRO 2005b). High seabird bycatch rates are also found in the Japanese longline fishery, where the mean catch rate is 0.92 birds/1,000 hooks. Catch rates have even been shown to be higher in the Australian fishery, possibly due to a lack of bird-scaring devices such as tori lines (Brothers and Foster 1997). There has been a recent decrease in seabird bycatch in Australian and New Zealand fisheries, however, which has been attributed to both an increase in the use of mitigation measures and a decrease in effort (Tuck et al. 2003). In addition to the bycatch of endangered albatrosses there is also bycatch of seabird species that are not listed on either the U.S. ESA or the IUCN Red List. Cory s shearwaters, for instance, are caught in large numbers in the Mediterranean. Spanish longlining vessels alone have been estimated to catch as much as 4 6% of the local breeding population each year, which is considered unsustainable for the long-term existence of this colony (Cooper et al. 2003). In the western Mediterranean, however, Spanish longline vessels targeting albacore have been shown to have a seabird bycatch rate of only birds/1,000 hooks, which is lower than the bycatch rates shown for South African and Japanese fleets in Australian waters (Valeiras and Camiñas 2003). In general, there are little data concerning seabird bycatch in the Mediterranean (Cooper et al. 2003). Although seabird bycatch mitigation measures are likely necessary in the WCPO, none are required (Small 2005). Observer data suggest that annual seabird takes in WCPO longline fisheries are from 0 9,800 birds, with annual mortality rates from % (Molony 2005). Seabird takes in the Atlantic are low, which is likely due to the night-setting of pelagic longlines (NMFS 2004c), as well as the absence of albatross species in the region. In the Indian Ocean, an estimated 100,000 albatrosses and 300,000 other seabirds are killed annually (IOTC 2005b). Of the albatross species that interact with longline fisheries in the Indian Ocean, 19 out of the 21 are threatened with extinction (IOTC 2005b). Observer data from South African vessels indicate that the most common seabird species caught are white-chinned petrel, black-browed albatross, shy albatross, and yellow-nosed albatross (IOTC 2005b). The 31

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