Saving Seafood

Feds accused of dragging feet on threatened whitetip shark review

May 18, 2022 — The National Marine Fisheries Service has for years failed to complete its legally required consultation regarding the effects authorized fisheries in Hawaii and Samoa have on the threatened whitetip shark population, according to a new lawsuit.

The oceanic whitetip shark has suffered a precipitous population decline of up to 88% in recent decades, the Conservation Council for Hawaii says in a complaintfiled Tuesday in Honolulu. The decline is due primarily to the sharks ending up as “bycatch” of longline fishing fleets in the Pacific Ocean that target tuna and swordfish.

The fisheries service has recognized the whitetip shark as a threatened species but so far has failed to complete the so-called consultation it is required to conduct under the Environmental Species Act to determine the impact the fisheries the agency authorizes have on the sharks.

Read the full story at Courthouse News Service

In the Pacific – oceans and climate change have compromised livelihoods

September 20, 2017 — The Chiefs of Falealupo village, on the island of Savaii noticed a disturbing trend in the last ten years in their lagoon. The presence of crown of thorns have increased in alarming numbers. “It is impossible to fish here now. They have ruined the coral and now what was previously a productive reef, has been rendered useless by them,” Chief Aeau Mareko Lamositele.

According to them, their families used to be able to rely on fish from the lagoon in front of their village. “Now we have to venture further out, we have to fish for longer to get anything back,” Aeau said.

The people of Falealupo are dependent on the ocean for their daily sustanence and for their livelihoods. Through susbsistence fishing activities they are able to feed their families and sell any surplus for other family needs.

“It’s actually quite new, we haven’t ever experienced this, even into adulthood we were always able to fish here without any problems, and always return with plenty for the family,” Aeau said.

Crown of Thorns

The decline in fisheries and habitat health on the reefs of Falealupo have been attributed to a variety of factors, with one of them being an influx in the number of crown of thorns.

The crown of thorns has been a growing problem in Samoa. Scientists have found that rising sea temperatures increase the survival rate of the coral-eating crown-of-thorn starfish. Reports from the Australian Institute of Marine Science found that a 2-degree increase in temperature improved their likely survival rate by 240 per cent, or more than tripling it.

Read the full story at HuffPost

Pacific Region Cooperating To Address Ocean Acidification

March 28, 2017 — APIA, Samoa — If the land is well and the sea is well, the people will thrive.

This adage is relevant now more than ever as climate change is encroaching on our shores.

Leaders from around the Pacific have joined in to tackle the issue of climate change specifically focusing on ocean acidification.

Last week, was the opening of the New Zealand Pacific Partnership on Ocean Acidification (P.P.O.A) project and the Tokelau Project Inception Workshop at Taumeasina Island Resort.

The New Zealand Pacific Partnership on Ocean Acidification (P.P.O.A) project is a collaborative effort between the Secretariat  of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the university of the South Pacific, and the Pacific Community which aims to build resilience to ocean acidification in Pacific Island communities and ecosystems, with financial support form the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Government of Monaco.

Read the full story at the Pacific Islands Report