Next Target: Dolphin "Why the sudden jump in harvest numbers?" By Rick Farren Sometimes you don't have to look far for clues to what might be the next fish species to suffer a market-driven decline. For instance, when was the last time you ate at a seafood restaurant and mahi-mahi wasn't on the menu? There was a time when that was the case for swordfish. So maybe it shouldn't be a surprise to discover that the commercial harvest of dolphin (Coryphanae hippurus) also known by its Hawaiian name mahi mahi, is rising at an alarming rate. Since 1982, when a little more than 300,000 pounds were taken, the numbers have shown a steady increase--passing 400,000 pounds in 1984, 600,000 pounds in 1986, 700,000 pounds by 1988, and exceeding more than a million pounds every year beginning in 1989. Then between 1994 and 1995 the harvest actually increased by over a million pounds from 1,301,357 to 2,357,708 pounds in 1995. Why the sudden jump in harvest numbers? According to information published by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) in August 1997, it's because of "...a shift in effort among the swordfish and shark longliners to the directed dolphin fishery due to heightened restrictions in those fisheries...the dolphin fishery is now being dominated by swordfish longliners who fish for dolphin simultaneously." Of course the reason for "heightened restrictions" on swordfish and sharks is the continuing use of non-selective longline gear which has proven to be difficult to manage and detrimental to those fisheries. There are over 5,000 permitted longline vessels in the U.S. Atlantic fleet alone. And in one form or another they are used to catch ling, snapper, halibut, cod, albacore, grouper, shark, tilefish and turbot as well as the great pelagic fish such as tunas and swordfish. Now swordfish longliners are experimenting with gear that can expand the number of species likely to be caught on the same set. When the same fleet of commercial vessels that has driven swordfish population to a shadow of its former self, turns its attention to another species, in this case dolphin, there is reason for concern. The gear's indiscriminate nature, including the harvest of immature fish, is questionable in the first place. And as always, there's the ever present problem of bycatch that haunts the use of longlines. The population of swordfish in the north Atlantic Ocean has already declined approximately 70 percent in only the past two decades following the widespread introduction of longlines in the Atlantic. In 1995, immature fish made up 86 percent of Atlantic swordfish landings. It's further estimated that over 30,000 juvenile fish are discarded annually by the U.S. commercial fleet. The same harvest problems can be expected as the use of longlines increases in the dolphin fishery. Also according to SAFMC, "Although fishermen indicate larger billfish are able to bend the hooks intended for dolphin, the bycatch report indicates younger undersized billfish are often caught dead. There is a significant amount of other by-catch, including an array of tuna, shark, and other finfish, turtle species and some marine mammals, including dolphin and whales. Some of the bycatch is marketable, but a large percentage is thrown overboard dead." Typical pelagic longline gear consists of hundreds, or even thousands of separate fishing lines, each with its own leader, hook and bait, and all hanging off a single, submerged, main line that might be as much as 70 miles long. A buoy line running from the surface to the main line, is clipped on every so many feet to keep the entire line at a specific depth. Simply by clipping a shorter line with smaller hooks to the drop buoy fishermen have been able to quickly increase their harvest of dolphin. The gear is designed differently when used specifically to target dolphin. According to a National Marine Fisheries Service document, sets are made in the daytime, anywhere from 2 to 6 miles of gear is fished with a maximum of 75 to 80 hooks per mile. Fishing takes place right on the surface and as many as 6 sets are made in one day. But perhaps there is some reason for optimism this time around, "We have an opportunity with dolphin to make this a management plan rather than a recovery plan," said Ted Forsgren, executive director of CCA Florida. "An accelerated harvest is just beginning. If they take action now we have a chance to keep it a viable fishery." Forsgren and other conservationists are calling for a precautionary approach to dolphin regulation that could begin with at least freezing the annual increase in harvest to pre-1994 levels or lower. 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