HAWAII LONGLINE OBSERVER PROGRAM
QUARTERLY STATUS REPORT
April 1, 2002 - June 30, 2002

Pacific Islands Area Office
Southwest Region
National Marine Fisheries Service

January 30, 2003

The Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery targeting tunas has been monitored under a mandatory observer program since February 1994. Beginning March 1994, branch personnel have conducted daily shoreside dock rounds in Honolulu to determine which fishing vessels are in port. These dock rounds are used to obtain an estimate of fishing effort on a real-time basis by assuming that a vessel is fishing when it is absent from the harbor. The following table summarizes percent observer coverage for vessel departures, vessels arriving with observers, and protected species interactions for vessels arriving with observers during the first quarter of 2002.