In the Gulf of Mexico, surface longlining is an indiscriminate commercial fishing method that wastefully kills more fish than it brings to market, some of which are valuable animals that the gear isn’t even intended to catch, such as Atlantic bluefin tuna, billfish (such as white marlin and sailfish), and endangered sea turtles. The western Atlantic bluefin is particularly at risk since genetic studies have identified it as a distinct population that reproduces only in the Gulf. Throughout the years, many government regulations, such as area closures and fishing gear mandates, failed to sufficiently address the problem. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 further exacerbated this decades-old problem created by surface longlines.;xNLx;;xNLx;It’s time for a comprehensive, long-term solution. Scroll through this interactive timeline to learn more about surface longline fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and potential solutions that take advantage of new fishing equipment and techniques, and then take action to help protect depleted and threatened ocean wildlife.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service tests Japanese-style longlines in the Gulf of Mexico and reports year-round presence of yellowfin tuna.
20,590 tons of western Atlantic bluefin tuna – equal to the weight of more than 3,734 school buses - are caught in 1964, primarily by the Japanese longline and the U.S. purse-seine fleets off the coast of Brazil. Catches sharply decline after that and the longline fishery expands in the Gulf of Mexico.
Total reported catch of white marlin, a billfish species found in the Gulf of Mexico, peaks at 2,345 tons in the North Atlantic soon after surface longlines are introduced.
Recognizing the need to protect Atlantic bluefin, 17 original members of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), including the United States, sign a treaty to promote sustainable fishing of bluefin.
Three years after the highest catch in 1964, the western Atlantic bluefin population in the southern range collapses because of overfishing by the surface longline fishery. It has not recovered. The fishery shifts to the Gulf of Mexico.
Due to habitat destruction and incidental catch by fishing gear, such as surface longlines, all species of sea turtles in U.S. waters gain protections under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Congress passes the Fishery Conservation and Management Act to eliminate foreign fishing in U.S. waters and promote the domestic industry.
ICCAT prohibits fishermen from targeting western Atlantic bluefin in their only known spawning ground, the Gulf of Mexico.
For the first time, ICCAT members jointly conduct a scientific assessment of the western Atlantic bluefin population.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) takes responsibility for managing highly migratory species such as swordfish, sharks, and tuna. These species are often caught on surface longlines.
