Pel. Amd. 10 Managing Leatherback and Loggerhead Sea Turtles in the Hawaii Shallow-set Longline Fishery (0648- BJ27)

The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council is proposing to amend its Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific (Pelagics FEP). Amendment 10 would revise existing measures that manage interactions between the Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery and leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles for consistency with the reasonable and prudent measures and terms and conditions of a 2019 biological opinion (2019 BiOp). Amendment 10 would reduce the annual limit for the leatherback turtle from 26 to 16, and remove the annual limit for the North Pacific loggerhead turtle. The amendment would also establish individual fishing trip limits on interactions with both leatherback and North Pacific loggerhead turtles. If a vessel reaches either limit on any shallow-set longline trip, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would require the vessel to stop fishing, return to port, and prohibit it from shallow-set fishing for five days. If a vessel were to reach an interaction limit twice in a calendar year, NMFS would prohibit that vessel from shallow-set longline fishing for the remainder of that calendar year. In the following calendar year, that vessel would have an annual cumulative limit equivalent to a single trip limit (5 loggerhead or 2 leatherback turtles) for the year. If Amendment 10 is approved, NMFS would implement the revised measures at 50 CFR Part 665. These measures are intended to reduce the overall incidental capture and mortality of leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles, consistent with the 2019 BiOp, while facilitating the continued operation of the shallow-set fishery to meet U.S. market demands for sustainably-caught swordfish.