California Pelagic Longline Fishery

This data set contains catch and effort, landings, and observer data from longline vessels fishing in the North Pacific outside the U.S. west coast EEZ. Logbooks and landings data are available from 1991 to the present and observer data is available from 2001 to present. California-based longliners target swordfish and bigeye tunas, however, other species of tunas, billfishes, and sharks are also caught.

The data collected from California-based longline vessels are used by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), NMFS, and the Pacific Fisheries Management Council to monitor and manage the longline fishery, to collect information used in stock assessments of sharks and swordfish, to monitor the bycatch of protected species, and to fulfill the reporting obligations of the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs).

On September 22, 2015 the west coast longline logbook data set was transferred from SWFSC where it was managed, to PIFSC. PIFSC will manage these data along with the longline lobook data from Hawaii-based vessels. CDFW does not have a gear code for pelagic longline.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) developed the fishery management plan (FMP) to manage the pelagic resources authorized by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. This FMP, which regulates the U.S. domestic fisheries for tuna, swordfish, marlin, and other pelagic species within the western Pacific U.S. Exclusive Economic Zones, was first implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS), on March 23, 1987. The Federal longline logbook program was implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in November 1990. Logbooks are filed by all operators of fishing vessels conducting longline fishing operations within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone from 3 to 200 nmi offshore American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, the Northern Mariana Islands, and U.S. possessions in the western Pacific. In addition, these western Pacific-based vessels are required to submit logbooks when fishing outside of the US EEZ. Thus, Hawaii-based vessels with a permit to fish under the western Pacific pelagics FMP that landed on the West Coast are required to submit the Federal Western Pacific Daily Longline Fishing Log. The Pacific Offshore Longline Logbook was collected under the authority of the California Department of Fish and Game. The California High Seas Pelagic Longline / Gillnet Data is collected under the High Seas Fishing Compliance Act of 1995 (16 USC §§ 5501_5509). This Act is the federal legislation implementing the Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation amd Management Measures by Fishing Vessels on the High Seas. It requires high seas fishing vessels to operate under permits issued by the Secretary of Commerce and to comply with international conservation and management measures. (The text from http://www.csc.noaa.gov/opis/html/summary/fhsca.htm) The data are confidential and can only be presented in the summarized form to the public. However, researchers with appropriate clearance can access the more detailed data.

Attributes define gear specification, environmental

conditions, fishing area, date and time, fishing effort, species composition, protected species interaction, ports.

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Hard copy data are locked in a secured area. Data are stored in files on government computers with all of the proper Government security measures in place

Confidential data limited to NMFS personnel with need to know (managing, accessing, monitoring or conducting research on the fishery or on fish stocks impacted by the fishery)

Contact point of contact. Supply official request for data and purpose of that request.

NMFS/SWFSC personnel need a signed Statement of non-disclosure agreement to access the detailed data. There are no constraints on access to summarized data.

All use of the data sets should be cleared with NMFS/SWFSC.

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The data set was originally in DBASE/FOXPRO then converted to MS Access.

Coverage for logbooks and landings is 100%.

Landings data are submitted by buyers and accuracy is very accurate. Catch and effort data are recorded in logbook forms by vessel captains and can be suspect.

Data are edited by SWFSC staff

MSA

Data are stored on agency servers following standard agency security policies

CDFW supplies the completed forms or data files to SWFSC for editing, data entry and maintenance