Management Plan for Longline Fisheries Targeting Sharks (Japan)

Offshore longline fleet based on Kesennuma fishing port is one of the major offshore longline fleets in Japan. Their vessel size is in between 119 and 150 tons. They are mainly operating in the Oyashio-Kuroshio transition zone in the subtropical and temperate northwest Pacific throughout year. Blue shark is one of the primary target species and, and they generally conduct blue shark targeting operations in the season between early summer to early autumn. In accordance with paragraph 2 of CMM2014-05 the following shark management plan is addressed.