Longnose Skate

NOAA Fisheries and the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) manage the US West Coast longnose skate fishery as part of the Pacific Coast Groundfish Fishery Management Plan (FMP). Implemented in 1982, the Pacific Coast Groundfish FMP covers over 90 species including rockfish, flatfish, and other skates caught off the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington. The US commercial groundfish fishery is comprised of three components:  Limited Entry (LE), Open Access (OA), and Nearshore (NS). The LE and OA sectors are managed by the PFMC while the NS sector is jointly managed by the PFMC and the states of Oregon and California. 

Longnose skates are slow-growing and late-to-mature – characteristics that make them inherently vulnerable to fishing pressure. Despite this vulnerability, the US West Coast population is considered healthy and the most recent stock assessment indicated that biomass is above management targets and fishing mortality is below. Longnose skate management is considered strong on the US West Coast due to management measures undertaken by the entire West Coast groundfish fleet such as:

- Spatial closures

- Gear restrictions

- Catch limits

- A catch share program

- 100% at-sea and dockside monitoring

Additionally, state regulations aimed at protecting sharks – such as California state law AB 376 – mandate that all skates be landed whole with their wings attached. Passed in 2011, AB 376 also mandates that skates can only be purchased whole and not as wings. 

The multispecies nature of the US West Coast groundfish fishery often makes the distinction between “target” and “bycatch” species unclear. Longnose skate are primarily discarded in several fisheries, but are commonly caught and retained as incidental catch in the US West Coast trawl fisheries, especially for arrowtooth flounder, Pacific cod, and Pacific halibut. 95% of skate landings in the US West Coast groundfish fishery are by bottom trawl, and 78% of all skate landings are longnose skate. Smaller amounts are also taken and mostly discarded by the LE longline and OA longline fisheries. There are no target fisheries for longnose skates in the Gulf of Alaska and after 2005 directed fishing was prohibited. Incidental catches in other fisheries are high enough that they are considered “in the fishery” and thus require harvest specifications. 

NOAA Fisheries and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council manage the longnose skate fishery in Alaska under the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands (BSAI) Management Area. Historically, skates have not been a target of groundfish fisheries operating in the BSAI or GOA and were principally caught as bycatch in the longline Pacific cod and bottom trawl pollock and flatfish fisheries. Today, longnose skates are primarily caught as part of the multispecies groundfish fishery in the GOA and BSAI and incidental catch remains high. Among management measures addressed for all species under the plans are:

- Total allowable catch (TAC) limits

- Time, gear, area restrictions

- Permit limitations

Longnose skate are managed by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) in Canada. Together with big skate, longnose skates account for more than 95% of the skate taken in British Columbia fisheries. The majority of longnose skate catch is made off western Vancouver Island and they are primarily exploited by the groundfish trawl fleet and the hook and line halibut fleet. Targeted exploitation of longnose skates began in 1996; however, a detailed stock assessment has never been completed for the species. Thus, the stock status is unknown, but there are indications that the current British Columbia stock is in decline as historical catches have exceeded the maximum sustainable yield for the species.