Here is how NCMC is currently working to conserve populations of swordfish, billfish, tuna and sharks (also known as "pelagic" or "highly migratory" fish) on the west coast:

• Keeping longlines out of US Pacific waters
  In February 2004 NOAA Fisheries approved the Pacific Fishery Management Council's management plan for west coast highly migratory species. The centerpiece of this plan is a complete ban on longline fishing out to 200-miles off California, Oregon and Washington. NCMC worked for three years with other conservation and recreational fishing groups urging the Council to reject a proposal by the commercial fishing industry to permit a new pelagic longline fishery off the west coast. The plan contains other precautionary measures to prevent overfishing of tunas, swordfish, marlin, sharks, and dolphin as well as a data collection framework that will assist in improving stock assessments and working towards cooperative conservation of these fish throughout their range. Read the latest update.
  
  NCMC is also currently working to stop drift-gillnet fishing for swordfish and sharks in the Pacific Leatherback Conservation Area off California and Oregon.
  
  Learn more about our efforts to ban the sale of Pacific billfish.
  

• Keeping longlines out of high seas in the Pacific
  NCMC has also joined dozens of other organizations and individuals in calling for a moratorium on the use of longline gear throughout the Pacific Ocean. Widespread use of this indiscriminate fishing gear is further depleting populations of endangered sea turtles -- like the Pacific leatherback, which is bordering on extinction -- not to mention unintentionally killing marlin, sharks and other non-targeted fish. The U.S. west coast-based longline fleet is currently prohibited from fishing for swordfish on the high seas because of turtle interactions. The Pacific Council, however, is looking at options for regulating that fishery that would satisfy the Endangered Species Act. NCMC is monitoring the development of these options.
  

• Ensuring an adequate food supply for the Pacific's big fish
   We are currently working on the west coast to conserve key species such as mackerel, squid and anchovy, important forage for the Pacific's big fish.  NCMC has been working with regional fishery management councils around the country helping implement an "ecosystems-based" approach when managing fish populations. That simply means taking into account the effect populations of bigger fish have on prey species, and vice versa. Read the latest update.
  

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