Barry et at: Capture efficiency and size selectivity of four pot types in the fishery for Enteroctopus doflemi 
43 
an optimal soak time of approximately seven days. 
These pots do not require baiting to be effective and 
therefore it is unlikely that prolonged soak times (lon- 
ger than seven days) will decrease their effectiveness. 
We suspect that increasing the total volume of the pot 
and decreasing the size of the opening of lair pots may 
increase catch rates. 
Sablefish pots proved to be the most efficient gear 
type tested in terms of kilograms per hours soaked, 
indicating that fewer pots could be fished with short 
soak times. Although their efficiency in terms of kg/pot 
may be lower than that of lair pots, shorter soak times 
allow for increased pot turnover. The capital invest- 
ment for fishermen already using pots in the sablefish 
fishery would be minimal and the season could begin 
after the sablefish season closes in November. Shrimp 
pots captured relatively few octopuses and those caught 
generally were smaller in size, possibly because of the 
small diameter of the pot entrance. Korean hair crab 
pots caught only slightly larger individuals and had 
a similarly low CPUE, despite having a much larger 
entrance. 
The high incidence of bycatch of commercially im- 
portant species by the sablefish pots may limit their 
usefulness in a directed fishery for North Pacific giant 
octopus. Vessels targeting the giant octopus would not 
be allowed to target any other species and all bycatch 
would be limited to a small percentage of the total 
weight of the giant octopus onboard. Bycatch reducing 
devices have been successful in reducing the bycatch 
of sea turtles (Fratto et al., 2008), crabs (Furevik et 
al., 2008), and birds (Butler and Heinrich, 2007) in 
multiple pot fisheries while maintaining high catch 
rates of their target species. Depending on our ability 
