Pelagic Longline Gear and Operational Requirements in Pacific Island Fisheries to Improve Survivorship of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks Final Environmental Assessment and Regulatory Impact Review

NMFS proposes to prohibit the use of steel wire line, known as wire leaders, within 1 meter of any hook deployed in the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery. NMFS also proposes to require fishermen, with limited exceptions for safety and data collection, to remove trailing gear from oceanic whitetip sharks caught in all longline fisheries operating under the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for Pelagic Fisheries of the Western Pacific, including the Hawaii deep-set and shallow-set fisheries and the American Samoa fishery. The proposed action is intended to increase post-hooking survival of oceanic whitetip sharks.