Saving Seafood

Fishing Prohibitions Unfair: Council Pushes for Analysis of Fishing in Marine Monuments

December 17, 2025 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council today took another step toward restoring sustainable commercial fishing in waters within several Pacific marine national monuments, considered pristine when they were established. The Council directed its staff to continue analyzing existing regulations in the Pacific Islands Heritage, Rose Atoll, Marianas Trench and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monuments (MNMs), with a final recommendation planned for consideration at its March 2026 meeting.

 Recent presidential directives have instructed federal agencies to identify ways to reduce regulatory burdens and expand opportunities for commercial fishing in monument waters. In response, the Council is preparing a range of options aimed at returning commercial fishing to these areas under sustainable management.

 “Prior to the establishment of the monument in 2009, we stewarded our own waters. With the monument, only the feds are in charge and no one else has a say,” said Council member Nathan Ilaoa, director of American Samoa’s Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources. “This initiative before the Council provides an opportunity to talk about how the people want to manage their resources rather, than being told what to do by the feds,” he said. The Council also supported a recommendation to ask the president not to use the Antiquities Act to manage fisheries in federal waters.

 Ilaoa said monument fishing prohibitions undermine the people’s ability to fish and provide food for the community. “Pacific Island people are unfairly required to bear the burden of the country’s environmental guilt, and the monuments represent a large inequality in how our peoples are treated,” he said.

 Council members wrestled with potential enhanced management measures and stressed the need for additional data. Council Chair Will Sword said, “If you don’t go fishing, you can’t get the data.” Council member Gene Weaver added, “The Council’s existing regulations provide more than adequate protection, and we can learn from the fishing that occurs to determine if anything more is needed.” Members emphasized that if commercial fishing is restored, it must be done the right way: under existing federal fishery management authority, with strong monitoring and clear performance measures.

 An important part of the Council’s fishery management decision-making process is the opportunity for community members to provide their input on issues discussed. During the public comment period, commenters were split: several supported reopening monument waters, especially the Marianas Trench, if done cautiously under enhanced regulations (gear and catch limits, protected-species measures, strong monitoring) and paired with baseline studies and adaptive management to support local livelihoods and food security. Others urged no action and keeping existing protections, particularly for Rose Atoll and Papahānaumokuākea, citing the areas’ sacred cultural importance, concerns about inadequate consultation and legal authority, and potential ecological harm.

The Council acknowledged letters to NOAA from the governors of American Samoa and the CNMI supporting fishing. However, one member expressed disappointment with the governor of Hawaiʻi’s letter to NOAA to keep fishing prohibitions in the Papahānaumokuākea and Pacific Islands Heritage MNMs. He argued that locally based, well-managed fisheries are integral to Hawaiʻi’s food security and economic fabric, and noted that the state’s longline fisheries represent its largest agricultural product. He urged greater consideration of Hawaiʻi’s fishermen in any decisions affecting these waters. 

By the numbers:

  • Wild-caught pelagic fisheries in the Western Pacific generated around $108 million in revenue in 2024, including about $105 million from the Hawaiʻi longline fishery (2024 Council Stock Assessment and Fisheries Evaluation report). 
  • Hawaiʻi’s seafood consumption is among the highest in the United States, estimated at more than twice the national average. Once local catch is transformed into value-added products like poke, its economic contribution grows even further.
  • For context across primary production in Hawaiʻi, USDA reports 2024 values of ~$53 million for coffee and ~$42 million for macadamia nuts. 

The Council also recommended the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) provide funding to the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center to implement cooperative research that partners with commercial fishers to collect baseline information in monument waters.

The Council also endorsed Scientific and Statistical Committee research priorities, including:

  • Collecting catch/bycatch data suitable for model-based evaluation of policy impacts 
  • Assessing foreign fishing impacts versus domestic fishing near U.S. waters
  • Tagging/telemetry and other low-impact research to evaluate species movement
  • Assessing monument-related fishery impacts on markets
  • Co-designing research with fishing and indigenous communities, as appropriate

Council Executive Director Kitty Simonds said research funding is needed to keep fisheries sustainable and protected. “While it is NMFS’s job to do research, funds are not available because the administration has to deal with other pressing issues,” said Simonds. “Organizations that helped the government establish the monuments have an obligation to help make this happen.”

What’s next

Council staff will complete the requested analyses and draft Fishery Ecosystem Plan amendment alternatives for review ahead of the March meeting, where the Council is expected to take further action on restoring access and finalizing a durable management path forward.

NMFS is expected to share Executive Order 14276 public comments with the Council by early January 2026, followed by January discussions with NMFS on comment summaries and prioritizing next steps, consistent with NOAA guidance from Eugenio Piñeiro Soler.

2026–2029 CNMI Bottomfish Catch Limits

The Council recommended setting the annual catch limit (ACL) for the CNMI bottomfish fishery at 72,000 pounds and the annual catch target (ACT) at 66,000 pounds for 2026–2029. These specifications are based on the results of the NMFS 2025 stock assessment update, along with application of the Council’s P* and SEEM analyses to account for scientific and management uncertainty. The ACT was set below the ACL to provide a management buffer that helps prevent the fishery from exceeding the ACL, ensuring catches remain within sustainable limits.

How to Join the Council Meeting

The Council meeting continues virtually tomorrow, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hawai‘i time with an Endangered Species Act review for the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fishery, vessel electronic monitoring and more. The agenda includes scheduled public comment periods.  

 Online: https://tinyurl.com/205CouncilMtg, Event password: CM205mtg

 Get the full agenda & documents: www.wpcouncil.org/event/205th-council-meeting-virtual-2

Wespac Looks To Expand Commercial Access To Hawaiʻi’s Papahānaumokuākea

December 16, 2025 –Local fishery managers, moving in step with the Trump administration, want to eventually reopen large protected swaths of the Pacific to potentially all sorts of U.S. commercial fishing — not just the deep-sea tuna and swordfish sought by longline boats but nearshore lobsters and corals as well.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, commonly known as Wespac, will consider on Tuesday options drafted by its staff to lift the commercial bans in several marine national monuments, including Hawaiʻi’s Papahānaumokuākea.

Some of the options that the influential group will consider endorsing would allow commercial fishing to resume in Northwestern Hawaiian waters as close as 3 miles from shore.

The move comes in the wake of President Donald Trump’s order last April asking fishery officials to explore reopening the monuments to commercial fishing.

Wespac has for years opposed commercial fishing bans in the Pacific. A brewing legal battle leaves it unclear whether Wespac, backed by the Honolulu-based longline industry and other seafood interests, will ultimately prevail.

Kitty Simonds, Wespac’s longtime executive director, told Civil Beat on Monday that the group considers it a priority to resume bottomfishing and trolling in Papahānaumokuākea’s waters that extend 50 miles out from shore, and to restart longline fishing in the waters 50 to 200 miles out from shore.

“We haven’t changed what we’d like to see from the time of (establishing) the monument, right?” Simonds said. “We made our arguments.”

Read the full article at Civil Beats

SSC to Review Marine Monuments, Monitoring and False Killer Whale Science at Meeting This Week

December 9, 2025 — This week’s Dec. 9–11, 2025, virtual meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) will bring together experts to review current research on Pacific fisheries, protected species and ocean management, and to translate that science into advice for future Council decisions.

Highlights include:

Commercial Fishing Regulations in the Papahānaumokuākea, Rose Atoll and Marianas Trench Marine National Monuments: In response to Executive Order 14276 and subsequent Council direction, the SSC will provide scientific advice on the feasibility of lifting existing fishing restrictions and evaluate potential impacts to marine resources in the monuments. The SSC may also identify additional management measures and research needs to be considered before and after any resumption of commercial fishing activities.

The SSC will review the current state of knowledge on large open-ocean marine protected areas in the Western Pacific Region, drawing on recent peer-reviewed studies. This synthesis of scientific results, benefits, limitations and trade-offs of large, closed areas is intended to inform the Council’s consideration of future management options for the marine national monuments and identify priority research gaps.

Electronic Monitoring: The SSC will hear an update on the rollout of electronic monitoring in the Hawai‘i and American Samoa longline fisheries, including outcomes from the first workshop on vessel monitoring plans (VMPs) and implementation timelines. Members will have the opportunity to weigh in on issues affecting vessel operators and the use of data for fishery monitoring and other applicable law. The discussion will continue with a finalized VMP template for potential endorsement in March.

SSC Special Projects Working Group Reports: The SSC Protected Species Working Group will provide an update on alternative ways to assess how commercial fisheries may affect species such as false killer whales, oceanic whitetip sharks, and leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles. The discussion will focus on different approaches and data needs, with a final report expected in March.

The committee will also hear an initial status update on the multi-species stock assessment strategies process for bottomfish, as National Marine Fisheries Service scientists work with fishermen, managers and partners to apply the new framework for grouping species and using indicator species in future stock assessments.

False Killer Whale Abundance Estimates: The SSC will discuss the latest scientific study on the abundance estimates of endangered main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale population. Members will discuss the implications of the findings for fishery management and identify priority research and monitoring needs.

How to Join Virtual Meeting

Online: https://tinyurl.com/158SSCMtg, Event password: SSC158mtg

Get the Full Agenda & Documents: www.wpcouncil.org/event/158th-scientific-and-statistical-committee-meeting-virtual

The SSC provides advice to the Council, which will meet virtually Dec. 16-17, 2025, www.wpcouncil.org/event/205th-council-meeting-virtual-2.

WPRFMC asks Trump to allow commercial fishing in Papahānaumokuākea

June 30, 2025 — Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to allow commercial fishing in parts of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) has asked the president to do the same for the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary.

Comprising several islands and atolls, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Marine National Monument was first established in 2006, and commercial fishing was banned within the monument in 2010. The monument was later expanded by former U.S. President Barack Obama to 582,578 square miles in size, making it the nation’s largest marine protected area.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea is America’s 18th national marine sanctuary

January 21, 2025 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated the marine portions of Hawaii’s Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a 582,570 square-mile area in the Pacific Ocean, as America’s 18th national marine sanctuary.

Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary will be the largest sanctuary in the National Marine Sanctuary System, and is one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, NOAA said.

The final rule was published on Jan. 16, days before the end of the Biden-Harris administration

Sanctuary designation will not change the area’s status as a marine national monument.

Read the full article at the Pacific Daily News

Nuisance alga detected beyond Papahānaumokuākea for the 1st time

December 17, 2024 — A red alga first found by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers smothering coral reefs in Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) has been detected for the first time by the team outside of the marine monument and more than 2,000 miles away.

The research team detected DNA matching Chondria tumulosa in Majuro Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands in the east-central Pacific Ocean. Papahānaumokuākea is a chain of islands and atolls that extends approximately 1,200 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands in the northern Pacific.

“Our discovery in Majuro suggests that C. tumulosa may be more widespread than we previously thought. This could have significant implications for coral reef ecosystems across the Pacific, potentially requiring broader monitoring efforts and a more comprehensive understanding of the alga’s distribution and ecological impact,” said UH Mānoa School of Life Sciences graduate student Patrick Nichols.

A threat to coral reefs

First detected in 2016 and named in 2020 by UH researchers, C. tumulosa has earned a reputation for smothering coral reefs in PMNM, where it forms dense mats that blanket corals and other native organisms. Its mat-forming behavior, ability to spread rapidly, and unknown origin have posed significant challenges for reef conservation.

Until now, the alga had only been observed spreading throughout the three northwestern-most atolls of PMNM: first at Manawai (Pearl and Hermes), then Kuaihelani (Midway Atoll) and Hōlanikū (Kure Atoll). However, a new detection outside of Hawaiʻi caught the researchers by surprise.

Read the full article at the University of Hawaii News

Huge Amount Of Marine Garbage Removed From Papahanaumokuakea

June 18, 2024 — A major trash cleanup by a nonprofit organization has concluded at Kuaihelani, also known as Midway Atoll, located in a marine national monument that is home to hundreds of endangered Hawaiian monk seals and 14 million seabirds representing 22 species.

Some 70,080 pounds of marine debris were hauled away and nearly 11 miles of shoreline cleaned up at Kuaihelani, located within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, according to a news release from Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project.

Some 35,100 pounds of derelict fishing nets, also known as ghost nets, were among the debris. Nearly 33,000 pounds of other marine garbage, such as buoys and floats, were also removed.

Read the full article at the Civil Beat

NOAA talks new proposal for Papahanaumokuakea

March 12, 2024 — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is proposing a national marine sanctuary in the marine portions of the existing Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument, which is a protected area to the northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands.

According to NOAA, Papahanaumokuakea is the “largest contiguous fully protected conservation area under the U.S. flag and one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world. It encompasses 582,578 square miles of the Pacific Ocean (1,508,870 square kilometers) – an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined.”

NOAA’s superintendent of Papahanaumokuakea, Eric Roberts, joined Take2 Friday morning to explain the importance of the proposal and what the benefits could be.

Read the full article at KHON

HAWAII: Native Hawaiian fishing permit approved for Papahanaumokuakea

December 12, 2022 — New regulations for federal waters surrounding Papahanaumo ­kuakea, one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, were voted on last week by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which oversees fisheries in Hawaii waters and the U.S. Pacific Islands.

A noncommercial and subsistence fishing permitting system has been recommended for federal waters surrounding the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in a move to encourage Native Hawaiian cultural practices, and it will come with the ability for fishers to recoup up to $15, 000 per subsistence fishing trip.

New regulations for federal waters surrounding Papahanaumo ­kuakea, one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, were voted on last week by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which oversees fisheries in Hawaii waters and the U.S. Pacific Islands. After approval by the secretary of commerce, council recommendations are implemented by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

While Papahanaumokuakea encompasses 582, 578 square miles of the Pacific Ocean—an area larger than all the country’s national parks combined—the noncommercial and subsistence fishing zone outside of the monument would be allowed from 50 to 200 nautical miles in expansion areas around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

Read the full article at Yahoo News