Gear Innovation for Selectively Harvested Lingcod: A Case Study from the West Coast Groundfish Fishery

In a collaborative approach to marine conservation, fishermen from the Ilwaco Fishermen and Marketing Cooperative and The Nature Conservancy have launched a five year effort to address the needs of the fishing community and the needs for species recovery off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. The cornerstone of our work is a new innovative fish pot, designed by fishermen to target lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) and reduce the risk of catching overfished species.  This presentation will reveal the outcomes and accomplishments from year one of the project, including pot design, methodology, and results from the first rounds of research fishing.  We will then outline the activities and next steps planned for years two through five of the project, including expanding the areas where we are able to use these pots to fish for lingcod, as well as exploring new mechanisms for scaling market pipelines for sustainably caught lingcod throughout the Pacific Northwest. The aim of this five year effort is to show, through collaborative research, that the innovative fish pot safely targets lingcod without incurring catch of overfished rockfish species and Pacific halibut, while still being an economically viable alternative for fishermen.