Sustainable Fishing Gear Development

Since 2010, PIER has been working with West Coast resource managers to design and implement a new commercial fishery that targets swordfish deep during the day.

This new gear, called Deep-Set Buoy Gear, was developed to capitalize on the unique biology of swordfish while avoiding sensitive non-target catch. Deep-set buoy gear is now an authorized fishery and is one of the cleanest options for harvesting swordfish off our coast, with over 90% swordfish catch in the commercial fleet.