Saving Seafood

Reopening the Pacific Monuments

July 21, 2025 — Reopening the waters around the Pacific Monuments will help the U.S. fleet, but they still need to fight a battle in the marketplace.

On April 17, U.S. tuna fishermen in the Pacific welcomed President Donald Trump’s executive order (EO) 14276 directing Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick to review marine national monuments and remove commercial fishing restrictions that conflict with national seafood priorities. Trump also issued a proclamation immediately opening the waters around the Pacific Remote Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, one of the four Pacific monuments.

“The president’s proclamation, issued the same day as his EO 14276, basically opens up the waters between 50 and 200 miles around the Pacific Remote Islands Monument – the islands of Wake, Johnston, and Jarvis – for commercial fishing,” says Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association (HLA).

The waters between 50 and 200 miles around the Remote Islands and three other monuments in the Pacific – Papahānaumokuākea, Marianas Trench, and Rose Atoll – had been closed since 2016 to protect tuna and generate spillover of tuna from the protected areas into surrounding waters.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

HAWAII: Governor signs measures aimed at protecting agriculture in Hawaii

June 30, 2025 — A pilot program to fight agriculture-related crimes in Hawaii will go into effect July 1 on the Big Island and Oahu.

The program within the state Department of Law Enforcement is intended to strengthen laws relating to agriculture theft — including cattle rustling — plus trespassing and hunting without permission on private ag land.

The law, which goes into effect July 1, 2026, was introduced by Rep. Tyson Miyake, a Maui Democrat and majority whip, with Kahaloa and fellow Big Island Reps. Nicole Lowen and David Tarnas signing on as co-sponsors.

According to Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association, the local market for fresh ahi poke sold at retail largely has been replaced by foreign-caught, gas-treated tuna imported from Vietnam, the Philippines, China, Indonesia and other countries. He added the new law “should help Hawaii’s commercial tuna fishermen statewide.”

“This bill will hopefully drive consumer demand for more fresh Hawaii-landed ahi poke at retail because they will see that the previously frozen, gas-treated tuna is not from Hawaii,” Kingma said.

Read the full article at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald

Hawai’i fishermen, environmentalists react to Trump’s executive order to reopen waters in the Pacific

April 21, 2025 — Fishermen and conservationists are clashing over President Donald Trump’s executive order on Thursday to reopen protected waters in the Pacific to commercial fishing.

The decision, aimed at boosting American Samoa’s economy, would allow access to the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. U.S. flagged ships would be authorized to fish commercially within 50 to 2,000 nautical miles outside the monument’s boundaries.

Members of the Hawai’i Longline Association (HLA) released a statement explaining the “significance of the proclamation for Hawaii’s fishing industry.”

“This is recognition that sustainable fisheries and ocean protection can be achieved and balanced within U.S. national waters,” HLA Executive Director, Eric Kingma said.

Read the full story at Island News

HAWAII: Hawaii Longline Association certified for sustainable fishing

September 14, 2022 — The Hawaii Longline Association has achieved a globally recognized certification for sustainable fishing by the Marine Stewardship Council.

The MSC Fisheries Standard, which the council says is the world’s most recognized benchmark for sustainability, follows a 16-month certification process that assesses if a fishery is well-managed, with three core principles it has to meet: sustainable fish stocks, minimizing environmental impact and effective fisheries management.

Read the full article at Star Advertiser 

Federal Fisheries Managers Enact Shark Conservation Effort Initiated By Hawaii Longline Association

May 25, 2022 — A conservation effort initiated by the Hawaii Longline Association (HLA), which is expected to reduce oceanic whitetip shark catch and mortality, will go into effect on May 31, 2022, according to a release issued yesterday by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC). This effort was initiated by HLA as a voluntary transition from steel wire leaders to more shark-friendly monofilament nylon leaders. The initiative was announced at the December 2020 WPRFMC meeting, and received broad support from industry, scientists, and conservation groups, including The Ocean Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

The following is excerpted from a release by the WPRFMC:

An industry-led conservation measure to reduce impacts to oceanic whitetip sharks is the latest example in a long history of bottom-up federal fishery management through the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

Starting May 31, 2022, the Hawaii deep-set longline fishery that targets bigeye tuna will be prohibited from using wire leaders, which reduces a shark’s ability to free itself from an accidental hooking by biting through the line. In addition, all longline fisheries operating under the Council’s Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) will be required to remove trailing gear from oceanic whitetip sharks before releasing them. Combined, these measures are expected to reduce oceanic whitetip shark catch and mortality by about 30%.

This conservation effort was initiated by the Hawaii Longline Association as a voluntary transition from steel wire leaders to more shark-friendly monofilament nylon leaders. The initiative was announced at the Council’s December 2020 meeting, and received broad support from industry, scientists and conservation groups like The Ocean Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Through the stakeholder-based process established under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Council developed an FEP amendment to make the leader material change a requirement, and finalized its recommendation in June 2021. The Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) developed the rule package, and NMFS issued a proposed rule in January 2022 and final rule in April 2022.

Read the full release from the WPRFMC

Western Pacific Fishery Managers Recommend Improved Seabird Conservation Measures

September 23, 2021 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recommended modifications to a regulatory amendment as an initial action to improve seabird conservation in the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fishery.

A recent tori line study showed that the streamer lines are significantly more effective than blue-dyed fish bait to deter seabirds like Laysan and black-footed albatross from interacting with longline gear. The Council supported using tori lines instead of blue-dyed bait, which is currently required as a seabird interaction mitigation measure implemented under the Council’s Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan. The Council will consider a full analysis to make a final decision at its December 2021 meeting.

In addition, the Council recommended removing strategic offal (fish waste) discards from the regulatory requirement. Discharging offal and spent bait in the ocean away from where fishing gear is set may distract birds in the short-term, but may also increase seabird attraction to fishing vessels over time. The Council also recommended best practices training on offal management be added to the required annual protected species workshop for Hawai‘i commercial fishermen.

“We support this change since blue dye is messy and not always effective,” said Hawaii Longline Association Executive Director Eric Kingma. “Tori lines are extensively used around the world, including fisheries in Alaska, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. They are practical, easy to use and not expensive.”

The Hawai‘i longline fishery has been using seabird conservation measures for more than 20 years and pioneered many of the mitigation measures used internationally in pelagic fisheries.

The Council started discussion today on the American Samoa bottomfish rebuilding plan and will take a final decision tomorrow on the last day of the quarterly meeting. The Council will also decide annual catch limits for the main Hawaiian Islands uku fishery. Instructions on connecting to Webex, agendas and briefing documents are posted at www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars.

The Council manages federal fisheries operating in waters offshore of the State of Hawai‘i, the Territories of American Samoa and Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the U.S. Pacific Remote Islands Areas.

Hawaii Fishermen Concerned Over Growing Chinese Presence

August 5, 2021 — Early morning in Honolulu, yellowfin, bigeye and other types of tuna, along with swordfish, are put up for auction after being offloaded from ships overnight. Longline boats, 145 of them, operate from this port, trailing kilometers-long baited lines. These vessels mostly fish in international waters at least 400 kilometers offshore, alongside boats from Taiwan, China, Japan and South Korea. Wholesale buyers compete for the catch in an early morning auction, and a single high-quality tuna can fetch from several hundred dollars to more than $1,000.

Confrontations are rare on the high seas near Hawaii, where the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command is based and the U.S. Coast Guard maintains a strong presence.

But fisherman here have watched with concern as Chinese fishing vessels intimidate Philippine fisherman in waters that China claims in the South China Sea.

U.S. fishing vessels, on the other hand, face more scrutiny than the Chinese ships. They are closely monitored under U.S. domestic law, says Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association, which represents local fishermen.

“We have independent observer coverage levels of at least 20% in our tuna fishery, whereas China barely scratches (reaches) 5%. And we have a whole suite of environmental laws, statutes and regulations,” he said.

Read the full story at Voice of America

Pacific Scientists to Consider Snapper Catch Limits, Evaluate Gear Requirements in Longline Fisheries

June 11, 2021 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Scientists from throughout the Pacific will meet June 15 to 17, 2021, to provide advice on managing the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) uku fishery, longline fishery gear and release requirements, and other topics to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. The meeting of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will be held virtually and is open to the public. The full agenda, background documents and instructions for connecting to the meeting and providing oral public comments are available at www.wpcouncil.org/event/140th-scientific-and-statistical-committee-virtual-meeting. Among the agenda items are the following:

MHI Uku Catch Limits
At its September 2020 meeting, the SSC set the acceptable biological catch for uku (green/gray jobfish) at 297,624 pounds for fishing year 2022 to 2025. This corresponds to a 43% risk of overfishing when accounting for scientific uncertainties. The SSC may provide scientific advice on the appropriate level of management based on the ability to track the catch in-season. The commercial fishery data is from monthly mandatory fisher reports, while the noncommercial fishery data is estimated from voluntary surveys completed every two months. The SSC will consider if the uku fishery commercial and noncommercial sectors should be managed as a whole or separately.

Gear and Release Requirements for Longline Fisheries
Most vessels in the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fishery use wire leaders in the terminal portion of the branchline between the hook and the weighted swivel to reduce the risk of crew injuries resulting from flyback. Wire leaders make it difficult to remove the terminal portion of the branch line from sharks or other protected species that cannot be brought onboard. Switching to monofilament nylon leaders would allow crew to remove gear closer to the hook and may facilitate a shark’s ability to break free by biting through the line. Tagging studies show that shorter trailing gear gives sharks a better chance of survival.

The Hawaii Longline Association announced at the December 2020 Council meeting that their member vessels will voluntarily eliminate the use of wire leaders by July 1, 2021, and use monofilament nylon leaders or other similar materials. The Council is considering a regulatory change to prohibit the use of wire leaders and to require removal of trailing gear to improve post-hooking survivorship of Endangered Species Act-listed oceanic whitetip sharks and other protected species. The SSC will discuss results from a risk analysis tool that the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) applied to several longline mitigation measures, including the transition to monofilament leaders, among others. The tool provides all possible outcomes of decisions taken and assesses the impact of risk, which allows managers to make better decisions under uncertainty. The SSC may provide additional scientific input to the Council to inform its decisions on the transition from wire leaders and removal of trailing gear.

Recommendations made by the SSC on these and other matters will be considered by the Council when it meets June 22-24, 2021, virtually with host sites at Tedi of Samoa Building, Suite 208B, Fagatogo Village, American Samoa; BRI Building, Suite 205, Kopa Di Oru St., Garapan, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); and Cliff Pointe, 304 W. O’Brien Dr., Hagatña, Guam. Instructions on connecting to the web conference, agendas and briefing documents are posted at www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars. Host sites are subject to local and federal safety and health guidelines regarding COVID-19; check the Council website for updates.

Hawaii’s Fishermen Are Worried About China’s Fleet. So Is The Military

May 17, 2021 — Hawaii’s commercial fishermen and the U.S. military have a potential threat in common — China’s fleet of government-subsidized ships that has been straying into more distant waters in search of seafood and more influence.

Local longliners have reported seeing increasing numbers of Chinese vessels near the islands, accusing them of overfishing and intimidating tactics.

Sometimes the ships are fishing, sometimes they’re making their way into the eastern Pacific and sometimes they’re seemingly just sitting at sea, says Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association.

He noted that a group of Chinese vessels seemed to be loitering north of Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge last week. “What are they fishing for? I don’t know,” said Kingma. “But it’s an example of them being close to Hawaii and, we believe, getting closer.”

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

Key U.S. Pacific Fishery Council Takes Vital Step to Protect Oceanic Whitetip Sharks

April 27, 2021 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) took a major step forward at its March meeting by recommending the prohibition of wire leaders on the Hawaii deep-set longline tuna fishery in the western Pacific Ocean. Wire leaders, also known as steel trace, are used by vessels fishing for bigeye tuna, but when sharks are accidentally caught on the line, they are unable to free themselves and frequently die as bycatch. This is a problem for the oceanic whitetip shark, which is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.  A switch to nylon, or monofilament, leaders, which are easier for sharks to bite through, would reduce mortality and help give this shark population a chance to recover.

In addition, the council recommended the development of a requirement to remove as much fishing line, or trailing gear, from an accidentally caught shark as possible—that is, to cut the line as close to the shark as possible before release. That would further protect sharks once freed from a longline. Council staff estimated that these two requirements would reduce mortality by 17% to 36%.

It’s now critical that the council finalize these much-needed decisions at its June meeting and that federal fishery managers implement them. The recommendations have wide support—including from the Hawaii Longline Association, which announced that its member fishing vessels would voluntarily ban wire leaders months before the council recommendation.

Read the full story at Pew Charitable Trusts