End California's Set Gillnet Fishery

Responsible for highest bycatch rates in all state fisheries.

Shark Allies has signed on as a supporting organization for an important California Campaign spearheaded by Oceana and the Turtle Island Restoration Network: To support a change to gear limitations in the CA Set Gillnet and Halibut Bottom Trawl fishery. The main reason for concern is the extremely high rate of bycatch.

The Net Consequence: Impacts of Set Gillnets on California Ocean Biodiversity

The Marine Resources Committee (MRC) a sub-committee of the California Fish & Game Commission, is in the beginning stages of analyzing the bycatch associated with both Set Gillnets & Trawls in the Halibut fishery. While several gear types target California halibut, the primary bycatch concerns are associated with bottom trawls and set gillnets. These two fisheries collectively catch 278 distinct species – including many sensitive, vulnerable, and threatened species unique and critical to the California current ecosystem. Set gillnets consist of nearly invisible monofilament net panels extending for hundreds of yards along the seafloor, entangling fish and wildlife in their path.

Due to the bycatch concerns, this gear type was banned within state waters by a 1990 California ballot proposition and was banned off Central California by the California Fish and Game Commission in 2002. However, set gillnets still operate relatively unchecked in Southern California federal waters. Vulnerable fish and porpoises have rebounded in areas where set gillnets were previously banned. Halibut bottom trawls pose similar problems. The National Marine Fisheries Services’ National Bycatch Report identifies the California halibut bottom trawl fishery as having the highest discard rate of any observed fishery in the U.S., despite previous efforts by the Commission to regulate the fishery through SB 1459. These two California fisheries targeting halibut continue to harm fish, wildlife, and ecosystems where they are still allowed, and the chronic bycatch issues urgently need to be addressed.

We are all interested in supporting and enjoying seafood sourced from local California anglers. We rely upon fishery managers and policymakers to ensure this seafood is responsibly harvested in a way that supports recreation, other fisheries, and the unique marine biodiversity along California’s coastline. The Marine Life Management Act (MLMA) includes bycatch acceptability criteria and associated processes for determining acceptability via the MLMA Master Plan for Fisheries, giving resource managers the tools needed to both identify bycatch concerns and implement measures to minimize bycatch. In the context of these criteria and based on publicly accessible federal observer data and other bycatch information, we believe the ongoing rates and impacts of bycatch in California halibut bottom trawls and set gillnets are unacceptable. We urge the commission to undertake its process and make formal determinations that bycatch is unacceptable in these two gear types and develop solutions towards minimal bycatch fisheries that support both local seafood and healthy ecosystems.

CALL TO ACTION

Get informed and help spread the word. Organizations can sign on in support, business letter sign on coming soon:

Send a letter to the California Fish and Game Commission:

Sign on to Oceana’s petition:

Stay tuned to the social channels and look out for newsletter updates for instructions on how the public can get involved locally and beyond.