The Hawaii-based Longline Logbook Summary Report
January-March 2012

• Summary Tables  [ Quarterly ]
• Summary Charts  [ Quarterly ]

This report summarizes data on fish catch and fishing effort by Hawaii-based longline vessels during the first quarter of 2012 (Q1-2012). Results are based on the date gear was hauled, as reported by vessel operators to the National Marine Fisheries Service in federal logbooks of daily fishing activity. The report covers longline operations for fishing trips completed in the first quarter of 2012 and most, but not all, Q1-2012 data from trips that began late in the first quarter and continued into the second quarter of 2012. Therefore, the Q1-2012 summary statistics reported here are preliminary.

During Q1-2012, 123 vessels were active in the Hawaii-based fleet, the same number of vessels as in Q1-2011 (Table 1, Fig. 1). They made 426 longline trips (17 more than in Q1-2011), including 382 using deep-set gear to target tuna (13 more than in Q1-2011) and 44 using shallow-set gear to target swordfish (4 more than in Q1-2011; Fig. 2). During Q1-2012, the fleet deployed 10.5 million hooks, almost the same number of hooks as in Q1-2011 (Fig. 3). They fished mainly on the high seas outside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (56% of the total hooks set), followed by the EEZ of the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) (24%), the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) EEZ (10%), and the EEZ of the U.S. Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA, consisting of U.S. possessions Wake Island, Jarvis Island, Howland Island, Baker Island, Kingman Reef, Palmyra Atoll, and Johnston Atoll) (10%).

In Q1-2012, the Hawaii longline fleet caught 37,424 bigeye tuna (Table 1, Fig. 4); 57% were caught in waters outside the U.S. EEZ. The bigeye tuna catch-per-unit-of-effort (CPUE) on tuna-targeted trips was 3.7 fish per 1000 hooks, down 22% from Q1-2011 (Fig. 5). The albacore catch and CPUE on tuna-targeted trips in Q1-2012 were 11,128 fish and 1.04 fish per 1000 hooks, respectively (Table 1, Figs. 6 - 7). The yellowfin tuna catch and CPUE on tuna-targeted trips in Q1-2012 were 11,362 fish and 1.14 fish per 1000 hooks, respectively (Table 1, Figs. 8 - 9).

The Q1-2012 swordfish catch was 8,321 fish, 16% lower than the swordfish catch in Q1-2011 (Table 1, Fig. 10). In Q1-2012, swordfish CPUE on shallow-set swordfish-targeted trips was 10.7 fish per 1000 hooks, 18% lower than in Q1-2011 (Fig. 11).

The striped marlin catch in Q1-2012 was 3,798 fish, and the CPUE on tuna-targeted trips was 0.38 fish per 1000 hooks, a 49% decrease in both catch and CPUE from Q1-2011 (Table 1, Figs. 12 - 13). The blue marlin catch in Q1-2012 was 564 fish with a CPUE of 0.06 fish per 1000 hooks on tuna-targeted trips (Table 1, Figs. 14 - 15).

The fleet caught 15,258 sharks in Q1-2012, of which 357 (2%) were kept. Blue shark comprised 72% of the total shark catch (10,956 fish) (Table 1, Fig. 16). Blue shark CPUE on shallow-set swordfish-targeted trips in Q1-2012 was 3.6 fish per 1000 hooks, 39% lower than Q1-2011 (Fig. 17).

In Q1-2012, the Hawaii longline catch of other key pelagic species included 23,013 mahimahi (Table 1, Fig. 18) with a CPUE of 2.2 fish per 1000 hooks on tuna-targeted trips (Fig. 19); 1,955 moonfish (Table 1, Fig. 20) with a CPUE of 0.19 fish per 1000 hooks on tuna-targeted trips (Fig. 21); 13,576 pomfret (Table 1, Fig. 22) with a CPUE of 1.4 fish per 1000 hooks on tuna-targeted trips (Fig. 23); and 2,918 wahoo (Table 1, Fig. 24) with a CPUE of 0.30 fish per 1000 hooks on tuna-targeted trips (Fig. 25). A high percentage of the catch of these species was kept.

The summary statistics in Table 1 are based on logbook records from all fishing areas combined and all types of longline trips—those targeting swordfish and those aimed at catching tuna. Hence, the CPUE figures in Table 1 differ from those reported above, which were calculated using data exclusively from tuna-targeted trips or swordfish-targeted trips, depending on the species of interest.

The longline logbook statistics reported above refer to all fishing areas combined. Q1-2012 summary catch and effort were also compiled by several geographical sub-areas including: the MHI EEZ; the NWHI EEZ; the PRIA EEZ; the combined EEZ of MHI, NWHI and PRIA; and waters outside the U.S. EEZ. These statistics are presented in Tables 2 - 6. Q1-2012 summary statistics for the entire fishing area are also presented for each distinct trip type: swordfish-targeted trips using shallow-set gear (Table 7) and tuna-targeted trips deploying deep-set gear (Table 8).

This website also provides a PDF version of the report [ download report (0.7 MB PDF) ], a separate collection of quarterly and yearly charts, and an archive of quarterly and annual summary tables of fish catch and fishing effort from 1991 to the present. The statistics in the online graphs and archived tables are updated periodically as new records are added to the database and corrections are made.