Common Misconceptions about Recording Longline Set Retrievals

Definition of gear deployment and retrieval

The regulations at 50 CFR § 679.5(c)(3)(vi)(B) require vessel operators to record in the logbook the time and location when "the first hook-and-line gear of a set enters the water."

NMFS trains observers that the documented time of gear deployment represents the first hook in the water and the documented time of gear retrieval represents when the last hook came out of the water. This interpretation enables NMFS to gather information on the entire time that hooks were in the water and were able to potentially interact with marine resources (fish, seabirds, marine mammals, etc). This definition is also consistent with NMFS interpretation of gear deployment for trawl gear, which starts when the first part of the trawl net enters the water.

How to enter gear deployment and retrieval in the seaLandings Daily Trip Report

To help describe how to enter the longline gear deployment into the Daily Trip Report, we will use this schematic of a longline gear deployment with 2 positions:

Gear Retrieval in Daily Trip Report logbook:

In Scenario A (see green arrow above), the vessel retrieved its gear in the same order that it was set. In this situation, the Retrieval Begin lat/lon = Position #1 and Retrieval End lat/lon = Position #2.   In this scenario, you just enter your set deploy information, and then your set retrieval information as it applies:

In Scenario B (see purple arrow above), the vessel retrieved its gear in the opposite order from how it was deployed.  In this situation, the Retrieval Begin lat/lon = Position #2; and the Retrieval End lat/lon = Position #1.   In this scenario, you want to record Position #1 as the set retrieval Lat/Long. since it where the last skate was lifted from the water:

We realize that this means the Begin lat/lon and the End lat/lon will be the same location.  Finally, you also must enter the Set Retrieval information, including your gear retrieval time.  Time hauled = the time that the last hook-and-line gear leaves the water: