Summary of the 2023 British Columbia Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) trap survey, September 29-November 13, 2023

This report presents the methodologies and findings of the 2023 British Columbia Sablefish longline trap survey. The survey design included 91 stratified random sampling (StRS) sets across five depth-stratified areas, along with five sets at Gil Island locality. Biological sampling was carried out for Sablefish and incidentally captured Shortraker Rockfish, Yelloweye Rockfish, and Rougheye/Blackspotted Rockfish. Sablefish were randomly sampled from traps spaced along each gear string to ensure even coverage, with a target of 30 specimens per set. The tag and release study, conducted annually since 1991, was not performed in 2023 due to a shift to tagging in even-numbered years. The survey also included 16 experimental fishing sets to investigate the impact of escape ring configuration on Sablefish catch rates and size distribution. In 2023, a total of 39,044 Sablefish were captured on StRS sets, of which 2,932 were selected for biological sampling. The target number of 91 StRS blocks, along with one inlet site, was completed. To assess trends over time, survey catch per unit effort (CPUE) and biological data were compared to previous years. The 2023 Sablefish StRS abundance index was 36 kg/trap, representing a decrease of 10% from 2022 but remaining consistent with the relatively high values observed since 2018.