Under an integrated fisheries management plan, licensed fishing vessels must own or lease both an individual quota of sablefish, but also other quota so that they can keep non-targeted species that might otherwise be thrown overboard. That means if sablefish fishermen accidentally catch halibut, for example, they must own or lease an equivalent amount of halibut quota. This allows them to keep the halibut or other non-target fish species and reduces bycatch (unwanted fish) mortality in the sablefish fishery. A number of other measures ensure conservation in this fishery. These include:

• strict annual catch limits
• a limitation on the number of licensed fishing vessels
• restrictions on landing small fish
• individual vessel accountability for all catch, released and retained
• electronic monitoring at sea via onboard video cameras, and
• dockside monitoring of catch unloading.

Sablefish caught by longline are individually hauled aboard, headed, cleaned and washed. Some catch is stored on ice, but the majority of sablefish are frozen at sea. After being hauled aboard, the sablefish are flash-frozen to a core temperature of -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit). Freezing takes place within only hours of the sablefish being landed so that when the fish is thawed it has the quality of being freshly caught. That’s why many fishermen refer to frozen-at-sea sablefish as “fresh-frozen.” Most sablefish is exported to Japanese markets, although it is becoming increasingly popular in North America and Europe.

The sablefish longline fishery occurs along the entire coast of British Columbia, which is divided into eight fishery management areas. Since 2002, rockfish conservation areas have been created to protect vulnerable fish stocks from commercial and recreational harvesting. There are currently 164 rockfish conservation areas providing refuge to 37 different rockfish species along the coast.