March 16, 2022 — Those at the forefront of managing Hawaii’s deep-sea fishing industry are meeting this week in hopes of figuring out how to deal with their catch being seized off their lines.
It’s one of the issues facing the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which oversees Hawaii’s longline vessels that bring in the ahi supply for the state and parts of the U.S. mainland.
Over the last several years, the council says its seen more cases of false killer whales, actually a species of dolphin, snatching fish right off a hook.
In years’ past, they’ve run into similar issues with seabirds and turtles, but gear has since been adapted.