| Abstract: | During 1998, the International Pacifi c Halibut Commission (IPHC) conducted numerous pilot experiments investigating the effects of bait type, size, or quality, hook size, or gear type on the longline CPUE of Pacifi c halibut. Thirty-six different experiments were completed by a total of nine chartered commercial fi shing vessels. Many of the experiments showed signifi cant differences in the catches of either legal- or sublegal-sized halibut. In general, larger hooks or baits caught more legal-sized and fewer sublegal-sized halibut and signifi cant differences were observed between different baits or bait qualities. Results of these pilot experiments will be useful in designing future IPHC gear experiments. During 1998, the International Pacifi c Halibut Commission (IPHC) conducted numerous. |
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