Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument Archives

Rep. Aumua Amata Urges Congress to Reform Marine Monuments

March 15, 2019 — The following was released by the office of Rep. Aumua Amata (R, American Samoa):

Congresswoman Aumua Amata gave a statement in the Committee on Natural Resources to make the case in Washington, D.C. that much-needed reforms are needed for the marine monuments on behalf of American Samoa. This full Committee Oversight Hearing was titled, Forgotten Voices: The Inadequate Review and Improper Alteration of Our National Monuments.

The text of her speech is as follows:

Talofa lava. Thank you, Chairman Grijalva and Ranking Member Bishop for holding this hearing today. The topic of today’s hearing is a bipartisan issue I have been strongly advocating for since I was first elected to Congress.

On January 6th, 2009, President Bush established the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument and the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument with Proclamation 8337 and Proclamation 8336. On September 29th, 2014, President Obama expanded the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument with Proclamation 9173. The American Samoan Government and its people were barely consulted before these monuments were established or expanded. As a result, our local fishermen were barred from accessing the waters that Samoans have been visiting for over a millennium.

The monuments serve a good purpose, and I fully support that effort, but not without local input, and not at the expense of access to our people who have utilized these areas for centuries, long before any relationship with the United States.

Many island economies are often heavily reliant on a single industry and in our case it’s the fishing industry. Our tuna cannery is the dominant economic force in our community. American Samoa’s economy depends on access to our own EEZ. The establishment or expansion of the monuments and the restriction of all local fishing has had a major negative impact on American Samoa. We have lost two out of three of our canneries in the last decade alone.

Our fishermen are the most responsible and regulated in the world. As it stands currently, these fish swim through the monuments and are then caught by nations with little to no environmental regulations…that is not helping the sustainability for the future stock. Using the Antiquities Act to close U.S. waters to domestic fisheries is a clear example of federal overreach and regulatory duplication and obstructs well managed, sustainable U.S. fishing industries in favor of their foreign counterparts, especially when the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument was arbitrarily expanded to over six times its size. It is now half a million square miles or an area the size of three California’s that now is off limits to U.S. domestic fishing.

Congress has already passed laws that ensures the protection and conservation of ecosystems and the species contained therein including the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The Department of Interior has asked the President to restore regulated fishing in the monuments because of the protections put in place by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, protections that the Antiquities Act does not have. Limited commercial fishing can be done without harm to fish stock sustainability or the environment because Congress has already passed and continues to update laws to ensure it.

The Rose Atoll and Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monuments are just two local examples, and the establishment and alteration of our national monuments remains a bipartisan issue affecting the whole country. We need to be looking at the Antiquities Act, because any President from either party should not be permitted to establish or alter a declared monument without input from the public. To that end I am proud to cosponsor Mr. Bishop’s Monument Reform Bill again this Congress, and I want to make it clear that I will welcome legislation from either side of the isle that addresses this oversight.

The unilateral use of an executive order when declaring sites for a national monument designation is not the right way to go about protecting our lands and waters. American Samoans and the other indigenous and local groups represented here today should not have had their way of life so easily threatened by the establishment and alterations of monuments without their input. We must ensure that all parties involved have a say, and I look forward to working with the committee on addressing what I hope remains a bipartisan issue.

Read the release here

Should Papahanaumokuakea Be Open For Business?

November 22, 2017 — Republican House members are urging President Trump to “think big” in his ongoing review of 27 national monuments, including opening up the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument not just to commercial fishing — but to oil, gas and mineral exploration.

The Trump administration has been pondering the future of the monuments for months, with a final announcement expected in December.

The proposal to open Papahanaumokuakea to commercial uses came in a Nov. 9 letter from a group of 24 Republicans who are active in the western caucus.

The letter writers want the boundaries of three of the four Pacific reserves — Pacific Remote Islands, Rose Atoll and Papahanaumokuakea — to be reduced in size and fishing restrictions to be lifted in all of the reserves.

But they only mentioned the possibility of energy extraction for Papahanaumokuakea and the Pacific Remote Islands reserve.

Problem is, there is no oil and gas development potential at Papahanamokuakea. The fight in Hawaii has been over whether to loosen commercial fishing restrictions in the monument

“It’s not applicable,” said William Aila Jr., former chairman of the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources who’s now deputy director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. “There is no oil or gas at Papahanaumokuakea.”

He said the only possible resource of that kind is something known as “manganese nodules,” metallic minerals found in rock-like formations in deep water on the seabed. But Aila said that it is so costly and difficult to obtain minerals in such remote locations that it is more “futuristic” than a viable economic opportunity.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat

Interior Report Recommends Cuts or Changes to Seven National Land Monuments

September 19, 2017 — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended cutbacks or other changes to nearly half the geographic national monuments he recently reviewed at the request of President Donald Trump, according to a report sent to the White House and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The report recommends reducing the boundaries of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante preserves in Utah, and reopening hundreds of thousands of square miles of protected oceans in both the Pacific and Atlantic to commercial fishing—in actions numerous environmental groups would likely fight to block.

Mr. Zinke recommended no changes to 17 other national monuments that the president included in the review, which he ordered after complaining some of his predecessors had locked up too much land and water in the preserves that can be created by presidents or Congress under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Most of the monuments that Mr. Zinke reviewed were created by two of Mr. Trump’s Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

If the president acts on the recommendations, they could have enormous economic implications in areas around the monuments.

For example, huge fisheries could reopen in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Prior to a nearly 600,000-square-mile area being created as the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument by the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, the region was a major fishery for Hawaii and Samoa, Mr. Zinke said in his report. Along with the two other marine monuments he singled out for change, he asked the president to take actions including through boundary reductions to allow most commercial fishing to resume.

Read the full story at the Wall Street Journal

NCFC Members Support Interior Department’s Reported Marine Monument Recommendations

WASHINGTON — September 18, 2017 — The following was released by Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities:

Members of Saving Seafood’s National Coalition for Fishing Communities support Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s reported recommendations to alter three marine national monuments. Coalition members are hesitant to comment on leaked recommendations that may not be final, but are offering comment due to the significant media attention this report has already received. The reported revisions to marine monuments will lessen the economic burden on America’s fishing communities while still providing environmental protections for our ocean resources.

According to reports, Secretary Zinke’s recommendations to President Donald Trump would allow commercial fishing managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) in the recently designated Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. He also reportedly recommended revising the boundaries or allowing commercial fishing under the MSA in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument. NCFC members in the Pacific hope that the White House will extend these recommendations to the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, and appreciate the open and transparent process by which Secretary Zinke reviewed these designations.

Marine monument expansions and designations have been widely criticized by commercial fishing interests as well as by the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils, which in a May 16 letter told Secretary Zinke and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that marine monument designations “have disrupted the ability of the Councils to manage fisheries throughout their range.” Fishing industry members believe these monuments were created with insufficient local input from stakeholders affected by the designations, and fishing communities felt largely ignored by previous administrations.

“The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was designated after behind-closed-door campaigns led by large, multinational, environmental lobbying firms, despite vocal opposition from local and federal officials, fisheries managers, and the fishing industry,” said Eric Reid, general manager of Seafreeze Shoreside in Narragansett, R.I., who has been critical of the Obama Administration’s process in designating the monument. “But the reported recommendations from the Interior Department make us hopeful that we can recover the areas we have fished sustainably for decades. We are grateful that the voices of fishermen and shore side businesses have finally been heard,” Mr. Reid concluded.

“There seems to be a huge misconception that there are limitless areas where displaced fishermen can go,” said Grant Moore, president of the Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association. “Basically with the stroke of a pen, President Obama put fishermen and their crews out of work and harmed all the shore-side businesses that support the fishing industry.”

“The fisheries management process under the existing Magnuson Act is far from perfect, but its great strength is that it has afforded ample opportunities for all stakeholders to study and comment on policy decisions, and for peer review of the scientific basis for those decisions,” stated Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford, Massachusetts, the nation’s top-grossing commercial fishing port. In March, Mayor Mitchell submitted testimony to Congress expressing concern over marine monuments. “The marine monument designation process may have been well intended, but it has simply lacked a comparable level of industry input, scientific rigor, and deliberation. That is why I think hitting the reset button ought to be welcomed no matter where one stands in the current fisheries debates, because the end result will be better policy and better outcomes,” Mayor Mitchell concluded.

Fishermen in the Pacific are also supportive of the Interior Department’s review, but remain concerned about the effects of the Papahānaumokuākea Monument, which was omitted from the version of the recommendations being reported. “We are appreciative of Secretary Zinke’s review, and his reported recommendations to support commercial fishing in the Pacific Remote Islands Monument,” said Sean Martin, president of the Hawaii Longline Association. Hawaii’s longline fishing fleet supplies a large portion of the fresh tuna and other fish consumed in Hawaii. “However, we hope that the White House will extend these recommendations to the Papahānaumokuākea Monument, where President Obama closed an area nearly the size of Alaska without a substantive public process. The longline fleet caught about 2 million pounds of fish annually from the expanded area before it was closed to our American fishermen. That was a high price to pay for a presidential legacy,” Mr. Martin continued.

The reported recommended changes come after an extensive and open public comment period in which the Interior Department solicited opinions from scientists, environmentalists, industry stakeholders, and members of the public. As part of the Interior Department’s review process, Secretary Zinke engaged with communities around the country affected by monument designations. This included a meeting with local fishermen in Boston who explained how the designation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Monument has negatively impacted their livelihoods.

Critics of the monument designation include the regional fishery management councils; numerous fishing groups on the East Coast; and mayors from fishing communities on both coasts.

Additionally, fishery managers in Hawaii have been critical of expansions of both the Papahānaumokuākea Monument and the Pacific Remote Islands Monument. In an April 26 letter to Secretary Zinke, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council stated that marine monuments around Hawaii “impose a disproportionate burden on our fishermen and indigenous communities,” and noted that they have closed regulated domestic commercial fishing in 51 percent of the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the region.

Florida charter fishermen applauded the review, and a return to the process of established law that guides fishery management. “Destin, Florida was founded by commercial fishermen before the turn of the 20^th century, and continues to be a major port for commercial and charter fishing fleets,” said Captain Gary Jarvis, president of the Destin Charter Boat Association. “To our fishing community, it’s extremely important to address closures of historical fishing grounds through the Magnuson-Stevens mandated regional council process.”

Curiously, although President Obama’s September 2016 monument designation prohibited sustainable low-impact commercial fishing, it allowed other extractive activities including recreational fishing, and even far more destructive activities such as the digging of trenches for international communications cables.

NCFC members supporting the Interior Department’s reported recommendations include:

Atlantic Offshore Lobstermen’s Association
Destin Charter Boat Association
Fisheries Survival Fund
Garden State Seafood Association
Hawaii Longline Association
Long Island Commercial Fishing Association
North Carolina Fisheries Association
Seafreeze Shoreside
Southeastern Fisheries Association
Western Fishboat Owners Association
West Coast Seafood Processors Association

Zinke: Open up first Atlantic monument to commercial fishing

September 18, 2017 — PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to open up the first marine monument in the Atlantic Ocean to commercial fishing, according to a recommendation he made in a memo to President Donald Trump.

Zinke’s memo touches on his recommendations for a host of national monuments, including Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument. Former President Barack Obama designated some 5,000 square miles (12,950 square kilometers) off New England as the marine monument about a year ago.

Obama’s proclamation should be amended to include commercial fishing activities regulated under federal law, Zinke’s memo said. The memo states that instead of prohibiting commercial fishing, the government should allow it in the area under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, which is the primary law governing the U.S.’s marine fisheries and meant to prevent overfishing and guarantee a safe source of seafood.

Zinke’s memo states that the monument was established “to protect geologic features, natural resources, and species,” but regulators have charged that it disrupts their ability “to manage species to balance protection with commercial fishing.”

Conservationist groups slammed the recommendation on Monday, while fishing groups said they’ve been making the same proposal all along. Allowing regulated commercial fishing in the area is a conservation-minded move, said Robert Vanasse, the executive director of Saving Seafood, a fishing advocacy group.

“Regulated fishing everywhere under the Magnuson-Stevens Act is pro-conservation and appropriate for all federal waters,” he said. “It’s scientifically sound.”

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald

Shrink at least 4 national monuments and modify a half-dozen others, Zinke tells Trump

September 17, 2017 — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that President Trump modify 10 national monuments created by his immediate predecessors, including shrinking the boundaries of at least four western sites, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Washington Post.

The memorandum, which the White House has refused to release since Zinke submitted it late last month, does not specify exact reductions for the four protected areas Zinke would have Trump narrow — Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, Nevada’s Gold Butte, and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou — or the two marine national monuments — the Pacific Remote Islands and Rose Atoll — for which he raised the same prospect. The two Utah sites encompass a total of more than 3.2 million acres, part of the reason they have aroused such intense emotions since their designation.

The secretary’s set of recommendations also would change the way all 10 targeted monuments are managed. It emphasizes the need to adjust the proclamations to address concerns of local officials or affected industries, saying the administration should permit “traditional uses” now restricted within the monuments’ boundaries, such as grazing, logging, coal mining and commercial fishing.

The memorandum, labeled “Final Report Summarizing Findings of the Review of Designations Under the Antiquities Act,” shows Zinke concluded after a nearly four-month review that both Republican and Democratic presidents went too far in recent decades in limiting commercial activities in protected areas. The act, signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, gives the president wide latitude to protect public lands and waters that face an imminent threat.

“It appears that certain monuments were designated to prevent economic activity such as grazing, mining and timber production rather than to protect specific objects,” the report reads, adding that while grazing is rarely banned “outright,” subsequent management decisions “can have the indirect result of hindering livestock-grazing uses.”

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Calls grow louder for Trump to reverse marine monument designations

March 13, 2017 — Elected representatives in Congress and industry groups are appealing to the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to investigate the potential of removing marine monument designations made by Trump’s predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) and Rep. Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa) sent a letter to Trump earlier this week requesting the removal of fishing restrictions and the reinstatement of fisheries management under federal law, according to a letter released by the committee.

“Using the Antiquities Act to close U.S. waters to domestic fisheries is a clear example of federal overreach and regulatory duplication and obstructs well-managed, sustainable U.S. fishing industries in favor of their foreign counterparts,” the letter said. “You alone can act quickly to reverse this travesty, improve our national security, and support the U.S. fishing industry that contributes to the U.S. economy while providing healthy, well-managed fish for America’s tables.”

The letter attributes the closure of the Tri Marine’s Samoa Tuna Processors canning factory in American Samoa in December 2016 to the U.S. purse-seining tuna fleet’s loss of access to fishing areas in the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument designated in 2009 by President George W. Bush. It also criticizes the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument – created by Bush and expanded by Obama – for removing fishing territory from the Hawaii longline fleet.

“[The monument designations] exemplify how a president and government bureaucracies can dispassionately decimate U.S. fishing industries,” the letter said.

In their letter, Bishop and Radewagen urge Trump to “act swiftly and effectively to remove all marine monument fishing prohibitions,” but do not clarify what specific actions they are asking Trump to take to undo the marine monument designations made under the powers of the Antiquities Act.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

SALEM NEWS: Cashes Ledge decision a victory for open government

March 29, 2016 — The decision by the Obama administration to pass on a proposal to make a large swath of the Gulf of Maine a national monument is not only a victory for fishermen. It’s also a win for those who favor open government.

News came late last week that the administration would not, in fact, use the federal Antiquities Act to make the the area around Cashes Ledge a permanent “maritime national monument” by executive decree.

Such status is set aside for for areas of outstanding scientific, cultural, conservation and aesthetic value. President George W. Bush established four and Obama expanded one, the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, according to the Associated Press.

Cashes Ledge, about 80 miles off the coast of Cape Ann, provides a habitat to sharks, dolphins and sea turtles and migrating, endangered North Atlantic right whales.

The area, more than 520 square nautical miles, is certainly worth protecting. However, there are already rules in place doing just that. The area is currently off limits to fishing, and there are no plans for that to change.

Read the rest of the column at The Salem News

Frustrations Voiced Over Impacts of US Fishing Quotas in the Western and Central Pacific

October 22, 2015 — UTULEI, American Samoa — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Members of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, meeting yesterday in Utulei, American Samoa, questioned the high road the United States has taken in international Pacific tuna management and the unfair consequences to fisheries in Hawaii and American Samoa.

“When international regulations cause a fishery to close, I don’t see how we can convince other nations to abide by our standards,” Council Member Michael Goto said. “Fishermen are talking about quitting.”

The Council noted that, when US fisheries are restricted, domestic demand is satisfied by foreign fleets that fall far short of the rigorous standards applied to the US fleets.

Council members addressed the recent two-month closure of the US longline fishery targeting bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) convention area and the ongoing closure of the US purse seine fishery on the high seas and US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters in the WCPFC convention area. Both closures were the result of the fisheries reaching US quotas developed by the WCPFC and implemented through federal regulation by NOAA. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) convention area in the Eastern Pacific Ocean remains closed to US longline vessels 24 meters and larger harvesting bigeye tuna. The United States has arguably the lowest quotas in both convention areas and is the only nation to have reached its quotas and restricted its fisheries.

The Council questioned the allocations developed by the WCPFC and recommended that the United States at the 12th regular meeting of the WCPFC invoke Article 10 paragraph 3 of the WCPFC Convention, which was established in 2000 in Honolulu, and work to restore the bigeye catch limit applicable to the Hawaii longline fishery and high seas effort limit for the US purse seine fishery. Current quotas for both US fisheries are below their historic catch levels, and the quota for the US longline fishery for bigeye tuna is scheduled to be further reduced in 2017.

Article 10 paragraph 3 stipulates that, in developing criteria for allocation of the total allowable catch or the total level of fishing effort, the WCPFC shall take into account not only the status of the stocks, the existing level of fishing effort in the fishery, the historic catch in the area and the respective interests, past and present fishing patterns and fishing practices of participants in the fishery but also other criteria. Among these are the extent of the catch being utilized for domestic consumption; the respective contributions of participants to conservation and management of the stocks, including the provision by them of accurate data and their contribution to the conduct of scientific research in the convention area; the special circumstances of a State which is surrounded by the EEZ of other States and has a limited exclusive economic zone of its own; the needs of small island developing States (SIDS), territories and possessions in the Convention Area whose economies, food supplies and livelihoods are overwhelmingly dependent on the exploitation of marine living resources; the needs of coastal communities which are dependent mainly on fishing for the stocks; the fishing interests and aspirations of coastal States, particularly small island developing States, and territories and possessions, in whose areas of national jurisdiction the stocks also occur; and the record of compliance by the participants with conservation and management measures.

Hawaii and the US Territory of American Samoa, a WCPFC Participating Territory, have felt the brunt of the recent closures due to the US quotas developed by the WCPFC. Ninety-seven percent of the Hawaii longline bigeye tuna catch is consumed domestically, according to the United Fishing Agency, Honolulu’s iconic fish auction. The Hawaii longline fishery operates in a region of the Pacific with the lowest impact to the bigeye stock.

The Territory of American Samoa is surrounded on all sides by the EEZ of other nations. In addition, 25 percent of the US EEZ surrounding American Samoa is currently closed to US purse seine and longline vessels due to the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument, created by Presidental executive order, and the Large Vessel Prohibited Area for pelagic fishing vessels over 50 feet in length established by the Council.

A detailed analysis of the dependence of American Samoa on US purse seine vessels delivering to Pago Pago canneries is forthcoming from NMFS. The US government recently denied a petition by Tri Marine Management Company requesting that it open the high seas and US EEZ to US purse seiners delivering at least half of their catch to tuna processing facilities in American Samoa. NMFS said it needed the economic analysis of the impact of the closure and issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking with the petition denial.

Congresswoman Aumua Amata of American Samoa expressed her disappointment in the decision by NMFS. Addressing the Council yesterday, she said that American Samoa is in dire straits. “It goes back to US government making decisions that are detrimental to American Samoa. We’ve had enough of it. It has got to stop. We don’t have IBM, Coca Cola or Silicon Valley for job creation. We just have the fisheries.”

US Congresswoman Aumua Amata of American Samoa expressed her disappointment in the “US government making decisions that are detrimental to American Samoa …. We don’t have IBM, Coca Cola or Silicon Valley for job creation. We just have the fisheries.”

Va’amua Henry Sesepasara, coordinator of the American Samoa Fishery Task Force, said that the petition Tri Marine filed with NMFS was made as a member of the Task Force. The Task Force was set up earlier this year by Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga to protect and sustain the competitive advantage of the Territory’s two canneries. The Task Force includes representation of both StarKist Samoa and Samoa Tuna Processors, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tri Marine.

Lt. Gov. Lemanu P. Mauga in his remarks to the Council yesterday said “StarKist and Tri Marine are our government’s life support in terms of our economy and jobs and our people’s social growth. A good number of American Samoa’s population works at StarKist and Tri Marine.” He asked the Council to imagine what would happen if these two canneries ceased operating because of the federal mandate to raise the minimum wage, the decision to restrict US-based purse-seine vessels on the high seas and exclusive economic zone or American Samoa not being afforded the same opportunity as other SIDS.

The Council recommended that the US government ensure that the US Participating Territories to WCPFC are linked with SIDS in terms of WCPFC conservation and management measures and are afforded the same recognition and opportunities as other SIDS in the region.

Christinna Lutu-Sanchez of the Tautai Longline Association voiced support for all of American Samoa fisheries. “It is about access to fishing grounds. Yes, we are great citizens of the world. But we don’t want to sacrifice our US fleet for the whole entire world.” She noted that tuna is a global commodity and American Samoa fisheries impact a small portion of it.

As attested to by the recent area closures of the Hawaii longline fishery for bigeye tuna and the US purse seine fishery on the high seas and in the US EEZ, US monitoring and compliance with WCPFC conservation and management measures is unsparing if not exemplary. The US longline vessels in Hawaii targeting tuna are required to have 20 percent observer coverage and those targeting swordfish are required to have 100 percent observer coverage. On the other hand, the WCPFC requires a minimum of 5 percent observer coverage, and there is no mechanism in the WCPFC to sanction non-compliance. Council members voiced their frustration with the lack of compliance and monitoring in the fisheries of other nations.

After much deliberation, the Council took action on 20 items related to pelagic and international fisheries, the majority related to the WCPFC.

Other highlights yesterday included Council recommendations regarding redevelopment of the small-scale alia fishery in American Samoa, which was destroyed by a tsunami in 2009; the presentation of a $50,000 check from the Council to the American Samoa Port Administration as the first installment to develop a longline dock at Malaloa; the swearing in of Michael Duenas and Michael Goto as reappointed Council members fulfilling the obligatory seats of Guam and Hawaii, respectively; and recognition of Lauvao Stephen Haleck as this year’s Richard Shiroma Award recipient for his outstanding contributions to the Council. High Talking Chief Lauvao (from Aunu’u) was a former Council member and an active member of the Council’s Advisory Panel when he passed away last month. His wife, Melesete Grohse-Haleck, accepted the award on his behalf.

The Council meeting continues today at the Lee Auditorium in Utulei and is being streamed live at https://wprfmc.webex.com/join/info.wpcouncilnoaa.gov. For more on the meeting, go to www.wpcouncil.org, email info@wpcouncil.org or phone (808) 522-8220. The Council was established by Congress under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976 to manage domestic fisheries operating seaward of State waters around Hawai`i, American Samoa, Guam, the CNMI and the US Pacific Island Remote Island Areas. Recommendations by the Council are transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce for final approval.

American Samoa is surrounded by the EEZ of other countries and has a limited commercial fishing area within the EEZ surrounding it. The WCPFC Convention provides special consideration for these circumstances when developing criteria for allocation of the total allowable catch or the total level of fishing effort.

Greens’ Hopes For Quick Win On New England Monument Fade

Emails obtained by Saving Seafood through public records requests confirm rumors that environmental activists hoped to convince the White House to announce Atlantic Marine National Monuments at next week’s “Our Oceans” conference in Chile.

In this Greenwire story, Conservation Law Foundation Interim President Peter Shelly tells reporter Emily Yehle that the organizers were “trying to keep that quiet” to minimize the opportunity for opponents “to organize against it.”

WASHINGTON (Saving Seafood) – October 1, 2015 – The story excerpted below was written by E&E reporter Emily Yehle, and appeared on September 30, 2015 in Greenwire:

One month ago, environmental groups were strategizing over their latest bid: Get the Obama administration to create its first marine monument off New England.

They had talks with fishing groups, lawmakers and think tanks. At the end of August, they exchanged emails over their progress — and in one, the president of the Conservation Law Foundation warned everyone to keep quiet about the possibility of a breakthrough at the upcoming Our Ocean Conference in Chile.

“I hope no one is talking about Chile to the outside world,” CLF Interim President Peter Shelley wrote. “It’s one of the few advantages we may have to know that it could happen sooner rather than later.”

The email showed up in response to a public records request that Saving Seafood filed with the office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage’s. The advocacy group — which represents fishermen opposed to the monument — sent the emails to Greenwire yesterday, asserting that they confirm “rumors” of an impending monument announcement from the White House.

Such an announcement would certainly make waves. The proposed monument is small and sees little activity today, but it is near prime fishing grounds. House Republicans have also added the proposal to their arsenal of criticism over the White House’s use of the Antiquities Act (E&E Daily, Sept. 30).

But Shelley, in an interview today, said the email was just hopeful speculation. With the conference coming up, environmental groups had hoped to convince the Obama administration that the New England marine monument was shovel-ready and ideal for a conference announcement.

“The time was pretty short to pull it off. We thought there might be an opportunity we could get them to think about these areas for an announcement in conjunction with the Our Ocean Conference,” Shelley said. “We were trying to keep that quiet because we didn’t want to give the opposition more of an advantage. The more time they had, the more opportunity they would have to lobby, to fight it, to organize against it.”

Chile is set to host the second Our Ocean Conference in Valparaíso next week. The State Department hosted the first one last year — and used it as an opportunity to announce that Obama would drastically expand the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (Greenwire, June 17).

Robert Vanasse, executive director of Saving Seafood, said rumors that the White House would make an announcement at the conference have been making the rounds for a few weeks.

“Given that last summer the Pacific monument expansion announcement took place at the State Department oceans summit, that seemed in keeping with previous actions,” Vanasse said. “We don’t put a lot of stock in Washington rumors; however, whenever our various [Freedom of Information Act] filings yielded this document, it seemed to be in sync with the rumors around town.”

The creation of monuments is usually shrouded in secrecy. Presidents can unilaterally create them under the Antiquities Act, a century-old law that requires no public process and no congressional approval.

Read the full story here