Woods hole oceanographic institution principal investigators: DR. Camrin d. Braun & DR. Martin c. Arostegui contact: 266 woods hole RD, MS 50 woods hole, MA 02543 USA

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration awarded Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution a $249,972 cooperative agreement on July 1, 2026, under the Cooperative Research Program (CFDA 11.472) to assess deep-set buoy gear catch, bycatch, and post-release mortality while targeting swordfish along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of America.

The project addresses NOAA Fisheries priorities for developing technologies to reduce bycatch impacts on highly migratory species and improving understanding of post-release mortality. Work is structured in two objectives. Objective 1 characterizes the efficacy of deep-set buoy gear in targeting swordfish by leveraging existing partnerships with commercial deep-set buoy fishers to quantify associated non-target catch and compare catch rates and species composition across gear types. Objective 2 uses catch data alongside in situ and remote ocean environmental measurements to characterize spatial and temporal variability in catch rates and composition and explore environmental drivers modulating that variability throughout the water column.

Principal investigators are Dr. Camrin D. Braun and Dr. Martin C. Arostegui at WHOI (Woods Hole, Massachusetts). Project personnel include consultant Al Mercier (F/V Kristin Lee, Pompano Beach, Florida) and Steve Durkee of NOAA Fisheries' Highly Migratory Species Management Division (Silver Spring, Maryland).

Period of performance runs from July 1, 2026, through January 31, 2028. Work is performed in Woods Hole and Falmouth, Massachusetts, with fishing operations conducted along the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of America.