The Offshore Explorer Podcast – Episode 1

How long does a swordfish live? What are the best methods to catch swordfish? Where do they go when they are not here? How old is a 50lb. Seabass? These are some of the topics that will be covered in today’s episode.

Today’s guest is Chugey Sepulveda of PIER, the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research. Chugey is a fisherman and research scientist who holds a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from the University of California San Diego. Listen in to hear what Chugey has to say about his work studying white sea bass and swordfish, the importance of applied science in fisheries, and the deep dropping method of fishing for swordfish.

Topics Discussed in This Episode

• Deep dropping in 2019
• Chugey’s background in marine biology
• White sea bass population cycles
• The age of a 50-pound sea bass
• What led to the transition in focus from sea bass to swordfish
• Why there aren’t a lot of swordfish near the surface in some years
• How to tell the difference between female and male swordfish
• The reason for importing swordfish
• What mousetrapping means
• Integrating deep dropping into a fishing community
• Why deep drop fishing is so effective
• What swordfish eat
• What to look for when choosing a swordfishing spot
• What the tagging shows about which fish leave and which fish stick around all year
• The distribution of weight in the swordfish
• Studies on aging swordfish
• How long swordfish can live
• How the mythos of the swordfish applies to the deep drop technique
• Whether swordfish school up
• Minimizing discards
• Fishing for opah
• Why it took so long for California fishermen to start deep dropping

Quotes From the Show

“Any fish that gets together to spawn and spawns in a small little aggregation spot, makes them real susceptible to commercial gear. Also recreational gear.”

“Understanding how old a fish is at its maturity, that’s a real important question. That’s applied science.”

“When you’re harpooning when they’re not finning, I mean, that’s painful.”