Light-weight collapsible pots prevent whales from pirating pricey black cod from longline hooks

Light-weight collapsible pots prevent whales from pirating pricey black cod from longline hooks and give a break to small boats.

"Getting whaled" is so pervasive fishery managers allowed black cod (sablefish) fishermen to switch from baited lines to rigid pots in the Bering Sea in 2008 and in the Gulf of Alaska starting in 2017. (Interestingly, killer whales rob the hooks in the Bering Sea, while sperm whales are the culprits in the Gulf.)

"The whale predation has just been so horrible," said Frank Miles of Kodiak, owner of 58 foot and 78 foot fishing boats. "The last couple years I tried to d...