October 15, 2015 — Hawaii fishermen are once again being allowed to catch a prized tuna species in the fleet’s most productive fishing grounds west of the islands, sparking criticism that they are adding to overfishing.
The National Marine Fisheries Service closed the fishery in early August because Hawaii-based longline fishermen hit an annual bigeye tuna catch limit of about 3,500 metric tons set by international regulators.
But the agency on Friday created a rule allowing the fishermen to report up to 1,000 metric tons of bigeye as being caught by the Northern Mariana Islands, which is a U.S. territory. The change allows Hawaii fisherman to catch more bigeye tuna than the maximum set by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
The commission, which is an international body that regulates fishing by the U.S., Japan, China and other nations fishing the area, doesn’t set limits on the catch of territories.
The two-month closure of fishing grounds affected 145 active vessels in the Hawaii longline fleet, said the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which develops management plans for U.S. fisheries in Hawaii and other Pacific islands.
“Arbitrary quotas not linked to conservation objectives kept our boats tied at the docks,” Kitty Simonds, the council’s executive director, said in a statement. “The struggling vessels and small businesses they support accumulated millions of dollars in debt each month, causing untold anxiety for our local fishing community and consumers.”
Read the full story at the New York Times