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Since the publication of Sebastian Junger's national bestselling novel,
*The Perfect Storm*, and the subsequent blockbuster movie of the same
name, "pelagic longlining" has become one of the most widely recognized
forms of commercial fishing. This gear is employed to harvest the
larger, free-swimming fish in the open ocean, including swordfish,
tunas, mahi mahi and sharks. These are known as highly migratory
species. As their name implies, they migrate throughout the world's
oceans.

Like most of the world's recreational fisheries, longlining depends on
catching fish on individual baited hooks. Unlike other hook-and-line
fisheries, however, longlining employs a long main line from which
individual hooks are suspended at intervals of 250 to 350 feet. The
hooks are attached to the main line by monofilament branch-lines called
gangions. Floats attached to branch-lines are spaced along the main line
to keep it elevated horizonally in the water, and the gangions hang
vertically from it. A variety of bait is used, with whole smaller fish,
such as Atlantic mackerel and squid. Luminescent light sticks are often
fastened to the gangions near the baited hooks, making them more
attractive to the quarry and also attracting smaller species on which
targeted species feed. The longlines used by the domestic fleet range
from 20 to 40 miles in length. The U.S. pelagic longline fleet accounts
for five to eight percent of the total number of pelagic longline hooks
fished in the Atlantic.

The depth at which the hooks are set is controlled by the length of the
lines attaching the main line to the floats, by the length of the
gangions, and by the speed at which the longline gear is set (the slower
the setting speed, the greater the "belly" in the line and the deeper
the hooks).

After a variable "soak time," the gear is retrieved, and the catch is
brought on board for cleaning and icing down in the hold. This "one at a
time" processing and handling gives longline products a high quality
distinction in the marketplace.

In 1999, this fishery came under a limited access program, capping the
number of directed swordfish permits to 247 total vessels. In recent
years, less than 100 of these vessels are actively fishing along the
East and Gulf coasts. The vessels range in length from 40 to 100 feet
and fish in waters up to hundreds of miles offshore. Depending on where
the fish are and how well they are biting, a longline trip can last from
several days to six weeks. Longline boats carry two to six crewmen.

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Pelagic longlining for highly migratory species began on the east coast
of the U.S. and Atlantic Canada in the early 1960s. In the early days of
the fishery, heavy multifilament lines and gangions with long shank
sharks hooks were used. As the fishery developed, the gear evolved to
keener and lighter monofilament gear with sportfishing style hooks,
known as "American style" longline gear.

Pelagic longliners use an array of high tech devices to locate the water
temperature "fronts" where the targeted fish congregate, attracted by
bait concentrations. Longline vessel captains use satellite services
that provide sea surface and subsurface temperatures, weather faxes,
GPS, sonar, and radar to help determine the best places and methods to
set their gear.

The following charts show the annual U.S. landings of the three primary
species targeted by the domestic pelagic longline fleet: swordfish,
yellowfin tuna, and bigeye tuna. The dip in swordfish landings reflects
in part international quota reductions since 1990.

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