Courtesy of CDFW:
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is committed to working with stakeholders to evaluate the needs of the California halibut fishery and community. To meet the ecosystem-based objectives of the Marine Life Management Act, CDFW is working to characterize bycatch of nontarget organisms in the California halibut fishery and develop appropriate management measures to minimize impacts to habitats and species.
At the November 17, 2022, Marine Resources Committee (MRC) meeting, CDFW staff provided an overview of the process for evaluating and addressing fishery bycatch as outlined in the 2018 Marine Life Management Act Master Plan for Fisheries. CDFW provided an update on the analysis of bycatch data in the California halibut fishery and received direction from the MRC to prioritize the top ten highest bycatch species for evaluation, with a current focus on the gill net gear type.
As an ocean community stakeholder, we would like to inform you of an upcoming CDFW update on the prioritized species bycatch evaluation for the California halibut gill net fishery, scheduled for the Marine Resources Committee meeting on March 14 and 16, 2023. The meeting details and agenda will be posted here soon.
CDFW invites you to share this information with your peers and constituents through your communication channels and we look forward to more discussions in the future. Your feedback will support informed discussions and decision-making as CDFW collaborates with stakeholders to consider potential management measures to minimize bycatch and protect the ecosystem
Please visit CDFW’s California Halibut Scaled Management Process webpage for more information and subscribe to receive email updates. Theenhanced status report for California halibut is also available on CDFW’s Marine Species Portal.