NOAA Fisheries Seeks Input on Groundfish Rules Proposed to Reduce Entanglements

NOAA Fisheries is inviting public comment on proposed changes in the West Coast groundfish fishery. The proposal would allow bottom-fishing gear to use only one vertical line to the surface and require the lines to be clearly marked. The actions would give fishing crews more leeway to adjust their gear to conditions and reduce the risk of lines entangling marine life.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council sought the changes to help reduce the number of whales and other marine life that get entangled in fishing gear along the West Coast. The changes would also lay groundwork for reducing regulations to give groundfish vessels more flexibility in how and when they pursue groundfish.

Marking the lines according to their fishery and owner would also help collect better data on entanglements, providing more clarity for fisheries and managers.

Entanglements of marine mammals, especially humpback whales, have increased off the West Coast since about 2014. A large marine heatwave known as The Blob increased ocean temperatures off the coast. That brought more whales into the same coastal waters where commercial fisheries deploy pots or traps on the seafloor.

The fishing industry and other stakeholders supported the proposed changes when the Council considered it. NOAA Fisheries included the line allowance and marking measures when assessing the entanglement risks posed by the groundfish fishery. Robert Alverson of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association said marking lines would help better understand the contribution of different fisheries to entanglement numbers, so solutions can be focused in the right place.

"The better information you have the better you can address it," he said.

California Council Member Corey Ridings called the proposed changes "a good-sense concept" that provides valuable improvements at a reasonable cost. "This provides good bang for the buck to help keep whale populations healthy while supporting West Coast fishermen," she said.

The proposed rule change would require color-coded marking of lines and buoys for vessels using bottom longline and pot gears in the directed open access and limited entry commercial groundfish fisheries. The changes would also limit the length of line between surface buoys with bottom longline and pot gears to 10 fathoms, or 60 feet. Fishing crews could then use surface buoys at one end of a bottom longline or string of pots, rather than attaching buoys to both ends. This allows fishing crews to reduce the number of vertical lines in the water at their discretion and as ocean conditions allow, while reducing the risk of losing their gear.

The changes are similar to recommendations from a 2022 workshop on sablefish gear marking and other steps to reduce entanglement risk and identify gear for commercial fisheries in coastal waters offshore of Washington, Oregon, and California.

The color-coded line marking is expected to help NOAA Fisheries responders better understand the source of entanglements. It would also provide a step toward a broad upcoming reduction in regulations that would give groundfish fishing vessels new flexibility to switch fishing gear and otherwise adjust their fishing strategies depending on ocean and market conditions.

Submit comments on the proposed changes until March 9, 2026.