Governor Gavin Newsom approved funding this week as part of the state’s budget of $ 262.6 billion for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The funds will finalize the implementation of state legislation passed in 2018 to phase out the use of drifting gillnets, which fishing boats pull behind to catch swordfish, opa and thresher sharks. . The state’s swordfish fishery, which is mostly limited to Southern California, is the last place in the United States where gear is allowed. State permits for the craft will no longer be issued as of 2024, and there is federal legislation that aims to ban its use entirely.

“We are very happy to see an ocean that can be freed from this dangerous contraption,” said Geoff Shester, California campaign manager for the conservation group. Oceane who has been working on the issue for 15 years. “It will be safer for whales, turtles and other animals that get caught in the craft.”

Oceana estimates that eliminating driftnets will prevent the deaths of dozens of whales and sea turtles and hundreds of dolphins, seals and sea lions over a decade, based on federal estimates. Yet such estimates are hypotheticalbecause only 20-30% of swordfish boats have observers on board who can accurately track entanglements, said Kit Dahl, staff manager for highly migratory species, including swordfish, at the Wildlife Management Board. Pacific fisheries.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that since 2001, when driftnet fishing was restricted to areas remote from leatherback turtle habitat, bycatch has been between zero and two turtles per year. The amount of bycatch of sea turtles and marine mammals estimated to take place with driftnets does not violate federal Endangered Species Act or Marine Mammal Protection Act, which would force the closure of the fishing, Dahl said.

But Shester said any reduction in bycatch in the fishery is due to fewer fishermen using driftnets in recent decades.

“We don’t want to support non-selective and destructive methods,” he said. “Even if there are less of them, that doesn’t make them OK.”

The alternative fishing method being deployed in California, called deep buoy gear, targets swordfish in deeper water with a long line and hook held in place by buoys. But because this gear catches fewer fish, many of the state’s 30 remaining driftnet fishermen may simply opt out of the swordfish fishery.

“We’re getting hammered,” said Gary Burke, a fisherman from Santa Barbara who has been fishing swordfish for over 40 years and remembers when there were 235 swordfish boats along the west coast. . “Unfortunately, the buyout will leave the fleet so small that it won’t be able to produce much.”

The buyback program offers $ 100,000 to active fishermen to abandon their old driftnets and $ 10,000 to surrender licenses.

California’s swordfish industry has grown from $ 4 million in revenue in 2017 to $ 2 million in 2019, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Last year, about 27 boats using submerged buoys in California caught 1,257 swordfish in 1,062 fishing days, an average of 1.2 fish per day, according to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. The same data was not available for drifting gillnet fishing, but Burke said each boat can carry two to four fish per day, each weighing around 120 pounds.

However, a 2019 study by the Pfleger Environmental Research Institute found that fishing boats using sunken buoy gear could make a similar daily profit, around $ 1,000, to drifting gillnet boats.

State fishermen often raise the question that increasing fishing limits here could result in the importation of even more fish from places with lower environmental standards, such as vessels in international waters that import swordfish with longlines which also have bycatch problems. The United States imports more than 80% of the seafood it consumes and is the world’s fourth largest exporter of seafood.

“All the other countries around us fish with longlines or nets, but in California you are allowed to use 10 hooks out of 10 gears,” said San Diego fisherman David Haworth, referring to the number of buoys installed in depth. every fisherman is allowed to use, which he says is too few.

Earlier this year, Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. reintroduced Federation of Legsilation to completely ban the use of drifting gillnets. Former President Donald Trump had previously vetoed it, which said he would cut jobs for fishermen.

Shester said the legislation should always go ahead.

“We want our fisheries to be successful,” said Shester. “We don’t want to see our fisheries end – we just think we can do it smarter. “

Tara Duggan is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @taraduggan