Buoy gear used to target swordfish (Xiphias gladius) has become an increasingly popular commercial gear type throughout the United States fisheries in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Buoy gear can be defined as a series of independent free-floating gear where each rig consists of at least one floatation device, a vertical mainline, and no more than two hooks. Because of the potential modifications to the component parts and deployment strategies, buoy gear has been hypothesized to decrease bycatch interaction and dead discard numbers by targeting specific depths of swordfish habitat throughout various times of the day. Under the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Oceanic Fish Restoration Project (OFRP), commercial buoy gear fishing was analyzed through ecological and economic data collection. The DWH OFRP aimed to reduce fishing mortality of catch and bycatch of pelagic fish, through a six-month repose of pelagic longline (PLL) fishing by a portion of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) PLL fleet. Although there have been studies evaluating swordfish post-release mortality (PRM) rates after commercial fishing gear interaction, little has been done to assess juvenile swordfish (
| Date of Award | Aug 9 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | David Kerstetter (Supervisor), Joshua Feingold (Advisor), Michael Schirripa (Advisor) & Eric Orbesen (Advisor) |
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