■ During 1993, 122 longline vessels active in Hawai‘i completed 1,233 trips. The number of trips completed declined by about 5 percent compared to 1992, whereas the number of hooks set increased by over 10 percent to 13.2 million. The number of sets completed (days fished) increased by about 7 percent in 1993 compared to 1992. Since the beginning of 1994, 117 vessels have been active, although several swordfish longliners have returned to the mainland and other Hawai‘i longline vessels have moved to Fiji.
Broadbill swordfish, Xiphias gladius, continued to be the largest component of the landings in 1993 (75,700), followed by bigeye tuna, Thunnus obesus (53,600), and mahimahi, Coryphaena hippurus (24,500). The total number of swordfish caught and retained comprised almost 30 percent of the total number of fish…