The National Marine Fisheries Service ( NMFS ) recently shared its options in Amendment 15 to reopen the Zones to pelagic longline fishing after 23 years of defending them off the U.S. East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.
The Closed Zones were brought about by aquatic longline fishing because at the time, American ships were killing the most juvenile fish of any country that was fishing.
the kinds from the Atlantic. Share declines and anglers’ hook-up rates for billfish, tunas, fish and near-shore species are likely to follow if the nursery areas for the sword fish are in open areas.
To increase our work, we need your assistance. We must maintain as much of the Closed Zones closed to oceanic longlining as feasible. The administrative approach for the agency will go on until September 2023; we’ll keep you updated and ask for your assistance as we go.
The Billfish Initiative
