Pacific Fisheries Bycatch Program

Upcoming Projects

This study will quantify the efficacy of a modified flexigrid sorting system designed to reduce juvenile sablefish bycatch in the West Coast groundfish bottom trawl fishery. Gear performance will be directly measured using the covered gear method. Mean size-selection properties (L50, SR) will be modeled for sablefish and other target groundfishes (e.g., Dover sole, petrale sole, thornyheads, rockfishes). This study will occur in 2023 in collaboration with the Oregon State University’s Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystems and Resources Studies (CIMERS) and Marine Resource Management (MRM) Program, NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Oregon Trawl Commission, and groundfish fishers. Funding for this project is provided by the NOAA Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program.

This upcoming research will conduct catch comparison and catch ratio analyses and sampling techniques to determine if yelloweye rockfish catch rates in a Pacific halibut longline fishery can be reduced by changing from a demersal to semi-demersal longline configuration. This study will occur in 2023 in collaboration with the Oregon State University’s Cooperative Institute for Marine Ecosystems and Resources Studies (CIMERS) and Marine Resource Management (MRM) Program, NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center, International Pacific Halibut Commission, and longline fishers. Funding for this project is provided by the NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center Cooperative Research Funding Program.