Saving Seafood

Court case highlights conflict between fishermen and marine mammals

November 16, 2015 — A Cape May County tuna fisherman is fighting federal charges of shooting a pilot whale that was feeding on his boat’s catch.

Daniel Archibald denies the charges filed against him in U.S. District Court. But his lawyer, Bill Hughes Jr., said in court papers that even if Archibald shot the animal, he wasn’t breaking any laws.

The unusual case highlights the often contentious relationship between fishermen and the seals, whales and dolphins that steal their catch. And it points to the murky laws that give fishermen, marine contractors, researchers and others permission in some cases to kill them.

Prosecutors say Archibald, 27, of Cape May, in 2011 used a rifle to shoot at short-finned pilot whales feeding on the long-line catch of the Capt. Bob, a tuna boat based in Sea Isle City.

He was charged with conspiracy to take marine mammals on the high seas and violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Read the full story at Press of Atlantic City

JOHN SACKTON: Media’s Rampant ‘Fisheries Are Going Extinct’ Claim Finally has Serious Rebuttal from Scientists

SEAFOODNEWS.COM [The Editor’s View] by John Sackton — Nov 3, 2015 — The following headline came across our newsfeed this morning “Some South China Sea fish ‘close to extinction'”, courtesy of Agence France Presse.

The report was based on a quote from Rashid Sumaila, director of the Fisheries Economics Research Unit of the University of British Columbia.

“The South China Sea is… under threat from various sources. We need to do something,” said Sumaila.

“The most scary thing is the level of decline we have seen over the years. Some species (are facing) technically extinction or depletion,” Sumaila, who headed the study, told a press conference in Hong Kong. 

Having not seen the paper, it is not possible to evaluate his statements. But they are readily taken up because they feed into a media narrative that has proved very hard to change: fisheries around the world are dying because of human greed and overfishing.  This narrative has been central to NGO campaigns focused on fisheries. 

For many years, there was no organized response, and especially no way for journalists to get accurate scientific information. If they were fed a quote, such as “90% of the worlds stocks were unsustainably harvested” as appeared in Newsweek this summer, or that fish is ‘aquatic bushmeat’ comparable to eating monkeys and rhinoceros, as was said by Sylvia Earle, they have no way to evaluate its truthfulness. No wonder that seafood seems so controversial.

A group of scientists has come together through Ray Hilborn and his colleagues at the University of Washington, that is finally providing real-time commentary and rebuttal – i.e. pointing out the basic science – which in many cases does not support these media stories. 

Our companion story today by Peggy Parker has more detail on Hilborn’s rebuttal to Newsweek, where he said one article ‘may set a record for factual errors’.

The idea is not to simply point out poor science and unsupported conclusions, but to encourage media to use their website cfooduw.org, as a resource whenever they see a scientific claim about fisheries.

For example, just in the past few days, scientists from around the world have posted comments on a range of global topics.

Hilborn pointed out, and the Newsweek editors accepted, a correction that not 90%, but 28.8% of fish stocks were estimated as overfished. Would they have run the story if they had not been pitched intitally that 90% of fish stocks have collapsed?

Steve Cadrin of the University of Massachusetts comments on recent articles about cod in both New England and Newfoundland.  He says “The lesson from both of these papers is that rebuilding the stocks to historical levels depends both on fisheries management … and on the return of favorable environmental conditions.” 

“Stock assessment models are simplifications of a much more complex reality. Stock assessments typically assume that components of productivity (survival from natural mortality, reproductive rates, growth) are relatively constant. These assumptions may be reasonable for relatively stable ecosystems. However, considering the extreme climate change experienced in the Gulf of Maine, such assumptions need to be re-considered.  Alternative approaches to science and management are needed to help preserve the fishing communities that rely on Gulf of Maine cod.” 

Two tuna scientists collaborate on a story in response to the charge by Greenpeace that John West is breaking its sustainable tuna pledge by buying fish caught with FADs.

FADs are a type of fishing gear (radio monitored fish aggregating devices) that have become very widely used for pelagic tuna. The two scientists, Laurent Dagorn and Gala Moreno, point out in a comment and a recent paper the important issues with FADs are 1) quantifying, with scientific data, how big that impact actually is, 2) determining if the impact is acceptable for the amount and diversity of fish caught, 3) comparing it with the impact of other fishing gears, and 4) implementing measures to reduce an impact if it is too high for the ecosystem, taking into account all fishing impacts. 

This provides a real road map for a discussion of FADs and how they should or should not be used, in contrast to the campaign claims that they are simply destructive types of fishing gear.  Dagorn and Moreno point out that all food production (including organic farming) involves making choices about modifying ecosystems, and tuna fishing should not be considered in isolation, but in how it meets the goal of providing food for global populations.

Aggregating and making this kind of fisheries science easily accessible is one of the most concrete actions that has been taken in years to counteract the misinformation that so many of us in the industry experience every day. 

It is an effort that deserves wholehearted support, including publicizing the resource to local writers and editors. Please visit their website at cfooduw.org.

This opinion piece originally appeared on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It has been reprinted with permission.

Tricked While on Land, Abused or Killed at Sea

November 9, 2015 — LINABUAN SUR, Philippines — When Eril Andrade left this small village, he was healthy and hoping to earn enough on a fishing boat on the high seas to replace his mother’s leaky roof. Seven months later, his body was sent home in a wooden coffin: jet black from having been kept in a fish freezer aboard a ship for more than a month, missing an eye and his pancreas, and covered in cuts and bruises, which an autopsy report concluded had been inflicted before death. “Sick and resting,” said a note taped to his body. Handwritten in Chinese by the ship’s captain, it stated only that Mr. Andrade, 31, had fallen ill in his sleep.

Mr. Andrade, who died in February 2011, and nearly a dozen other men in his village had been recruited by an illegal “manning agency,” tricked with false promises of double the actual wages and then sent to an apartment in Singapore, where they were locked up for weeks, according to interviews and affidavits taken by local prosecutors. While they waited to be deployed to Taiwanese tuna ships, several said, a gatekeeper demanded sex from them for assignments at sea.  

Once aboard, the men endured 20 ­hour workdays and brutal beatings, only to return home unpaid and deeply in debt from thousands of dollars in upfront costs, prosecutors say. Thousands of maritime employment agencies around the world provide a vital service, supplying crew members for ships, from small trawlers to giant container carriers, and handling everything from paychecks to plane tickets.

While many companies operate responsibly, over all the industry, which has drawn little attention, is poorly regulated. The few rules on the books do not even apply to fishing ships, where the worst abuses tend to happen, and enforcement is lax. Illegal agencies operate with even greater impunity, sending men to ships notorious for poor safety and labor records; instructing them to travel on tourist or transit visas, which exempt them from the protections of many labor and anti­trafficking laws; and disavowing them if they are denied pay, injured, killed, abandoned or arrested at sea. 

 “It’s lies and cheating on land, then beatings and death at sea, then shame and debt when these men get home,” said Shelley Thio, a board member of Transient Workers Count Too, a migrant workers’ advocacy group in Singapore. “And the manning agencies are what make it all possible.

Step Up Marine Enterprise, the Singapore based company that recruited Mr. Andrade and the other villagers, has a well documented record of trouble, according to an examination of court records, police reports and case files in Singapore and the Philippines. In episodes dating back two decades, the company has been tied to trafficking, severe physical abuse, neglect, deceptive recruitment and failure to pay hundreds of seafarers in India, Indonesia, Mauritius, the Philippines and Tanzania.

Still, its owners have largely escaped accountability. Last year, for example, prosecutors opened the biggest trafficking case in Cambodian history, involving more than 1,000 fishermen, but had no jurisdiction to charge Step Up for recruiting them. In 2001, the Supreme Court of the Philippines harshly reprimanded Step Up and a partner company in Manila for systematically duping men, knowingly sending them to abusive employers and cheating them, but Step Up’s owners faced no penalties.

Read the full story at The New York Times

NORTH CAROLINA: Lesser-known catches taking center spot

November 1, 2015 — It’s been an upstream swim, but thanks to curious consumers, clever marketing and a widening understanding of environmental realities, North Carolinians are gradually weaning themselves from a steady diet of top-shelf but increasingly restricted fish like tuna, grouper and snapper. In their wake, previously disregarded or invasive species such as triggerfish and lion fish have taken center spot on our collective plates, and a shift to these lesser-known catch will likely continue as fishermen, fishmongers and fish fans adjust to availability.

“With all the regulations out there put on top of the North Carolina fishermen, there’s got to be some type of diversity, some other type of catch to help them make their income,” said John Aydlett, a seafood marketing specialist with the N.C. Department of Agriculture. “And by diversifying the species, it helps them spread out their season.”

Read the full story at Star News Online

 

SAFMC: Proposed Commercial Trip Limit for the Atlantic Coast Dolphin Fishery

October 27, 2015 — The following was released by the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council:

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council is soliciting public input in November on measures affecting fishermen as far north as New England. Commercial fishermen that target dolphin (fish) in federal waters along the Atlantic coast may be operating under a new commercial trip limit if measures proposed by the Council are approved during its December 7-11, 2015 meeting in Atlantic Beach, NC. The Council is developing Regulatory Amendment 1 to the Dolphin Wahoo Fishery Management Plan with trip limit alternatives designed to help extend the commercial season. On June 30, 2015, the commercial dolphin fishery was closed for the first time when NOAA Fisheries projected that the annual catch limit of 1,157,001 pounds would be met. Dolphin are managed from New England to the Florida Keys under the fishery management plan, and the closure impacted the commercial fishery along the entire Atlantic coast. The Council approved measures in December 2014 to modify the allocation between commercial and recreational sectors, increasing the commercial allocation to 10% and the annual catch limit by 377,484 pounds. NOAA Fisheries is currently reviewing the measures approved by the Council. As proposed, the trip limit would become effective once a designated portion of the commercial annual catch limit is reached. Fishermen and other interested members of the public are being asked to provide their comments on various alternatives by participating in public hearings being held via webinar or by submitting written comments (see details below).

The Council is also requesting public input on proposed management measures for blueline tilefish, yellowtail snapper and black sea bass in Regulatory Amendment 25 to the Snapper Grouper Fishery Management Plan. New annual catch limits for blueline tilefish in the South Atlantic and other management parameters are being considered based on a new Acceptable Biological Catch of 224,100 pounds. Changes to commercial trip limits and recreational bag limits for blueline tilefish are also being considered. For yellowtail snapper, a species commonly targeted off the southeastern coast of Florida, the amendment includes alternatives to change the fishing year and modify accountability measures. The change in the current fishing year is being requested by fishermen in order to allow harvest during the winter season and have any closures that may occur due to meeting the annual catch limit coincide with the spring/summer spawning season. The final action in Regulatory Amendment 25 would allow an increase in the current recreational bag limit for black sea bass of 5 fish per person per day. Alternatives range from increasing the bag limit to 6 fish up to a total of 10 fish per person per day. Once overfished, the stock was deemed rebuilt based on the 2013 stock assessment and the annual catch limit more than doubled. The Council is scheduled to approve measures in Regulatory Amendment 25 during its December meeting in Atlantic Beach, NC.

The public is encouraged to provide written comment and participate in upcoming public hearings scheduled via webinar with concurrent comment stations at various locations. A public hearing scheduled for Monday, November 9th will address actions proposed in Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 25. A public hearing scheduled for Thursday, November 12th will address commercial trip limits for dolphin through Dolphin Wahoo Regulatory Amendment 1 and measures proposed in Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 25. The public hearings begin at 6:00 PM.

Learn More – Q&A Webinar

Monday, November 2, 2015 at 6:00 PM – Question and Answer Webinar for Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 25. Registration for the webinar is required and information is available from the Public Hearing and Scoping Meeting page of the Council’s website at www.safmc.net. Public Hearing Summary documents for each amendment and other materials will be posted on the same page by October 30, 2015.

Submit Written Comment

Written comments for both amendments can be submitted via mail, fax, and email and will be accepted until 5:00 PM on November 16, 2015. Instructions for submitting comments are available from the Public Hearing and Scoping Meeting page of the website or by contacting the Council office at 843/571-4366 or Toll Free 866/SAFMC-10.

Public Hearing Webinars and Comment Stations

Public hearings will be held via webinar in conjunction with comment stations throughout the region beginning at 6:00 PM. Stakeholders have two options for participating in the public hearings: Option1) Participate via webinar on the scheduled dates listed below; and Option 2) Participate in person at one of the designated comment stations in NC, SC, GA and FL on the scheduled dates listed below. Registration is required for each webinar. Webinar registration links are available from the Public Hearing and Scoping Meeting page of the Council’s website at www.safmc.net. Council staff will be available one hour prior to each webinar to assist with setup if needed. Call 843/571-4366 or Toll Free 866/SAFMC-10 for assistance. Council staff will review the amendments via webinar beginning at 6:00 PM and local Council members will be on hand at each comment station and tuned into the webinar. Members of the public on the webinar and at comment stations will then have an opportunity to go on record to provide comments for consideration by the Council.

 

SAFMC November 2015 Public Hearings Webinar and Comment Station Dates 6:00 PM

 

Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 25 

 

Monday, November 9th

 

Public Hearing via Webinar

Register at www.safmc.net

 

Comment Stations:

GA Department of Natural Resources

Coastal Resources Division

One Conservation Way

Brunswick, GA 31520-8687

Phone: 912/264-7218

 

Hilton Garden Inn Charleston Airport

5265 International Boulevard

North Charleston, SC 29418

Phone: 843/308-9330

 

Dolphin Wahoo Regulatory Amendment 1 and Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 25 

 

Thursday, November 12th

 

Public Hearing via Webinar

Register at www.safmc.net.

 

Comment Stations:

Dare County Government Complex

Room 168, 1st Floor

954 Marshall C. Collins Drive

Manteo, NC 27954

Phone: 252/475-5000

 

Wingate by Wyndham (Hotel)

2465 State Route 16

St. Augustine, FL 32092

Phone: 904/824-9229

 

View a PDF of the release here

NORTH CAROLINA: Weekly Update for Oct. 19, 2015

October 26, 2015 — The following was released by the North Carolina Fisheries Association:

NCFA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING TIME CHANGED

Our board of directors will meet tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. at the Washington Civic Center, 110 Gladden St., Washington.  We encourage all fishermen who are able to attend, especially those participating in the summer and southern flounder fisheries.  

SAFMC HEARINGS ON PROPOSED FEDERAL MANAGEMENT MEASURES

The South Atlantic Fishery Management Council has scheduled public hearings regarding the commercial dolphin trip limit for the Atlantic Coast, blueline tilefish, yellowtail snapper and black sea bass in South Atlantic in November.  For more information on the hearings, dates and how to submit comments see the news release.  

MAFMC OCTOBER 2015 MEETING SUMMARY

NMFS SEEKS PUBLIC COMMENTS ON DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT TO MODIFY A BLACK SEA BASS POT SEASONAL PROHIBITION

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a draft environmental impact statement for Regulatory Amendment 16 to the Fishery Management Plan for the Snapper-Grouper Fishery of the South Atlantic Region (Regulatory Amendment 16).  On Oct. 23, 2013, fishery managers implemented an annual prohibition on the use of black sea bass pots from Nov. 1 through April 30 in the South Atlantic. Regulatory Amendment 16 contains management measures to modify this prohibition in terms of area and time closed. The regulatory amendment also contains management actions to require specific rope marking for black sea bass pot gear. The purpose of the proposed actions is to reduce the adverse socioeconomic impacts from the prohibition while continuing to protect whales in the South Atlantic region. For more information see news release.  

NILS STOLPE: “SO HOW’S THAT ‘CATCH SHARES’ REVOLUTION WORKING OUT FOR GROUNDFISH?”

“I’ll add here that catch share management is not a cure-all for all that’s wrong with fishery management – though at the time Dr. Lubchenco and her “team” apparently believed it was – nor is it the reason for management failures. It is nothing more than an option for dividing the catch among users. As such it can have profound socioeconomic impacts on participants in the fishery and on fishing communities that depend on it, but not on the fishery resources themselves.”

Read Nils’ entire opinion here as published in FishNet USA/October 22, 2015.  

NOAA LAUNCHES NEW MOBILE-FRIENDLY FISHWATCH.GOV

October is National Seafood Month, and NOAA Fisheries has launched our first-ever mobile-friendly website to enable our users to access the nation’s database on sustainable seafood anywhere, anytime, on any device. 

FishWatch offers the same great seafood information, but now it’s easier to use on the go from your phone or tablet. Using the site, consumers can: 

  • Make smart seafood choices with facts about what makes U.S. seafood sustainable-from the ocean or farm to your plate.
  • Get information on the status of some of the nation’s most valuable marine fish harvested in U.S. federal waters as well as U.S. farmed fish that help meet our country’s growing seafood demand.
  • Understand how U.S. seafood is responsibly harvested and grown under a strong monitoring, management, and enforcement regime that works to keep the marine environment healthy, fish populations thriving, and our seafood industry on the job.

REGULATION AND RULE CHANGES:

–Commercial Scup Winter II quota and possession limits increase effective Nov. 1

–Commercial harvest of yellowtail snapper in South Atlantic federal waters will close Oct. 31

DEADLINES:

Oct. 29 – NMFS Proposed Rules for Snapper-Grouper, Dolphin and Golden Crab Comments

Nov. 4 – Atlantic HMS SEDAR Pool Nominations

Nov. 9 – NMFS Proposed Rule on ICCAT Bluefin Electronic Documentation Comments

Nov. 16 – SAFMC Proposed Federal Management Measures Comments

Nov. 19 – Derelict Fishing Gear Recovery Project Applications

Dec. 16 – NMFS Draft Ecosystem-based Fishery Management Policy Comments

MEETINGS:

If you are aware of ANY meetings that should be of interest to commercial fishing that is not on this list, please contact us so we can include it here.    

Oct. 27 at 12:30 p.m. – NCFA Board of Directors Meeting, Washington Civic Center, 110 Gladden St., Washington, NC

Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. – Question and Answer Webinar for Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 25

Nov. 2-5 – ASFMC Annual Meeting, World Golf Village Renaissance, St. Augustine Resort, 500 Legacy Trail, St. Augustine, Fl

Nov. 9 at 6 p.m.- SAMFC Snapper Grouper Regulatory Amendment 25 Public Hearing

Nov. 12  at 6 p.m. – SAFMC Dolphin Wahoo Regulatory Amendment 1 Public Hearing to address commerical trip limits for dolphin

Nov. 18-20 – ASFMC River Herring Data Collection Standardization Workshop, Linthicum, MD

PROCLAMATIONS: 

GILL NETS – ALBEMARLE SOUND AREA- MANAGEMENT UNIT A-OPEN GILL NETS WESTERN ALBEMARLE AND CURRITUCK SOUND

View a PDF of the Weekly Update

StarKist: Fishing Restrictions Hurting American Samoa Cannery

October 26, 2015 — PAGO PAGO, American Samoa – StarKist Co. says fishing restrictions on the high seas and in the US EEZ have further eroded American Samoa’s competitiveness and call on the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to recognize the territory’s unique nature as a small and developing economy.

The statement from the US based company, owned by South Korea based Dongwon industries comes as NMFS officially released last Friday its decision not to approve an emergency rule to exempt U.S. purse seine vessels that deliver at least half of their catch to tuna processing facilities in American Samoa from the closure of the area known as the Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine (ELAPS) — which is fishing on high seas and US EEZ.

Tri Marine International had petitioned the NMFS arguing among other things the reduction of fishing days in waters of Kiribati, traditional fishing grounds for the US purse seine fleet, and that the loss of a reliable supply of tuna from these vessels will jeopardize the ability of the canneries in American Samoa to compete in world markets.

STARKIST RESPONSE

In a statement issued last Friday, StarKist says, “Our cannery has been directly impacted by the closure of access to the high seas and NMFS needs to recognize the unique nature of American Samoa’s small and developing economy.

The company says these “unnecessary restrictions” have driven the purse seine fleet into distant waters where they are now catching fish under a U.S. flag to benefit competitors to American industry.

“As a result, we are forced to buy our fish at a premium with reefer vessels coming in from distant fishing grounds,” it says. “The competitive position of American Samoa continues to be eroded day by day, and the decision by NMFS to forgo an emergency rulemaking for our purse seine fleet is another example of a lack of urgency for how difficult it truly is to operate a business here.”

“American Samoa has had three things in its favor – duty free access to the US market which is now nearly irrelevant, a wage system reflective of the local economy rather than the mainland economy, and a reliable supply of direct-delivered fish,” StarKist said. “All of these factors have been negatively impacted in the last six months.”

Read the full story from the Samoa News at the Pacific Islands Report

 

Former Dutch Harbor Fisheries Observer Keith Davis Missing At Sea Off Peru

October 26, 2015 — With crab season under way in the Bering Sea, some 70 crab boats are bobbing around Alaska’s Bristol Bay and the Aleutian Islands. About a dozen of those boats have a fisheries observer on board. The observers keep tabs on what the boats haul up from the deep.

Keith Davis was supposed to be one of those observers, but he went missing in September while working on a boat off the coast of South America. KUCB’s John Ryan reports.

TRANSCRIPT

Davis has been a fisheries observer for more than 15 years. His employer says he was planning to return to Dutch Harbor this winter to do more observing work.

But Davis vanished while working on a transshipment vessel about 500 miles off the coast of Peru. He disappeared one afternoon while a boat was offloading tuna to the Taiwanese ship that he was working on. The ship sailed under the flag of Panama.

The Panamanian government, the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI are investigating his disappearance. Davis’s friends suspect foul play.

Goodman: “Absolutely do.  For a number of reasons.”

Lynn Goodman is a fisheries observer and a friend of Keith Davis.

Goodman: “I met Keith in our Dutch Harbor bunkhouse while we were both observing on crab boats.”

She says Davis was exceptionally safety conscious and there’s no way he would have been on board a ship without a life jacket, let alone just fall off unnoticed.

Read the full story and listen to the audio at KUCB

 

Fishery Managers Agree on Catch Limits for US Pacific Territories Bottomfish, Bigeye Tuna

October 23, 2015 — UTULEI, American Samoa — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The bottomfish annual catch limits (ACLs) in American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) should be equal to their acceptable biological catch (ABC), the Council deemed yesterday as it concluded its two-day meeting in Utulei, American Samoa. The ABCs are set by the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee and refer to the amount of fish that can be harvested without causing overfishing. The amounts are 106,000 pounds for American Samoa; 66,000 pounds for Guam; and 228,000 pounds for CNMI. In making its decision, the Council determined that the difference between recent harvest levels and ACLs in all three island areas were sufficient to ensure the ACLs will not be exceeded.

The Council yesterday also approved the proposed management policy, goals and objectives for the American Samoa, Hawaii, Mariana, Pelagic and Pacific Remote Islands Area Fishery Ecosystem Plans (FEPs), which are undergoing a five-year review. The proposed policy is to apply responsible and proactive management practices, based on sound scientific data and analysis and inclusive of fishing community members, to conserve and manage fisheries and their associated ecosystems. The proposed goals are to 1) Conserve and manage target and non- target stocks; 2) Protect species and habitats of special concern; 3) Understand and account for important ecosystem parameters and their linkages; and 4) Meet the needs of fishermen, their families and communities. The National Marine Fisheries Service will review the draft plans to provide comprehensive agency feedback, input and guidance by mid December.

Certificates and plaques of recognition were awarded to 40 seafood vendors who are helping local and federal fishery managers better understand American Samoa’s commercial fishery. Pictured (from left) are Council Chair Ed Ebisui Jr., American Samoa DMWR Director Ruth Matagi-Tofiga, Aukuso Gabriel of Josie’s Restaurant, Charles Nelson of Equator Restaurant, Hana of P n F Mart, Council Executive Director Kitty Simonds, Tom Drabble of Sadie’s Hotels, and Michelle Shaosxia Ma and Tua Agalelei of Sunny’s Restaurant

During its two-day meeting in America Samoa, the Council also maintained its recommendation made in June to specify the 2016 US longline bigeye tuna limits for the three US Pacific Territories at 2,000 metric tons (mt) each. Up to 1,000 mt per territory would be authorized to be allocated to US fishermen through specified fishing agreements authorized under Amendment 7 of the Pelagic FEP. The Council recognized that these limits are consistent with the conservation and management framework of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and are not impeding international conservation objectives to eliminate bigeye overfishing.

Recommendations by the Council that are regulatory are transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce for final approval.

The Council also directed staff to request that the Department of Justice consider directing funds received from fines and penalties from marine pollution violations that occur in waters of the Territory of American Samoa or in the US exclusive economic zone waters around American Samoa be provided to the American Samoa government. The funds would be used to support conservation and management activities identified in the America Samoa’s Marine Conservation Plan.

The Council officers for 2016 were selected and will remain the same as this year, with Edwin Ebisui Jr. of Hawaii as chair and Michael Duenas (Guam), John Gourley (CNMI), McGrew Rice (Hawaii) and William Sword (American Samoa) as vice chairs.

The Council also appointed Mike Tenorio to the Scientific and Statistic Committee; Peter Crispin to the Pelagic Fisheries Sub-Panel and Nonu Tuisamoa to the Ecosystem and Habitat Sub-Panel of the American Samoa Advisory Panel; Daniel Roudebush to the Ecosystem and Habitat Sub-Panel and Geoff Walker to the Pelagic Fisheries Sub Panel of the Hawaii Advisory Panel; and Archie Taotasi Soliai, StarKist manager, to the Fishing Industry Advisory Committee.

The Council provided certificates of recognition to 40 seafood vendors who provided their monthly receipts of fish sales to help improve understanding of American Samoa’s commercial fishery. Vendors who submitted 100 percent of their receipts each month for the past year received special plaques of recognition. The project is a partnership involving the Council, NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources.

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.

Fishery Advisors Focus on Mounting Tuna Management Concerns

October 21 2015 — UTULEI, American Samoa — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Meetings leading up to the convening of the 164th Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council continued yesterday in Utulei, American Samoa. The Pelagic and International Standing Committee began the day supporting recommendations of the Council’s advisory bodies that met in Utulei on Monday as well as those of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) and the US Permanent Advisory Committee (PAC) to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), which met earlier in the month in Honolulu. Also meeting yesterday were the Program Planning Standing Committee and Executive and Budget Standing Committee. The Council will consider the recommendations of these advisory groups when it meets today and tomorrow at the Lee Auditorium in Utulei.

American Samoa longline vessels docked at Pago Pago harbor.

One topic of concern to multiple advisory bodies is the American Samoa tuna fleet, which consists of longline vessels targeting South Pacific albacore and purse-seine vessels targeting skipjack. The local longline vessels have suffered from reduced catches, possibly due to an unchecked, four-fold increase in the Chinese fleet in the region, while the local purse-seine vessels have suffered from a reduction in their traditional fishing grounds in the Kiribati exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from 4,313 fishing days in 2014 to 300 days this year. Established by the United States for its purse seine vessels, the Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine (ELAPS) includes all areas of high seas and US EEZ between 20 degrees N and 20 degrees S in the WCPFC Convention area, i.e., the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). US purse seine vessels have been shut out of the high seas and US EEZ since June 15 when the US purse seiners reached the US limit of 1,828 fishing days.

“American Samoa’s economy is tuna dependent, and it has a tuna fishery that includes the purse seine, longline and alias that are based there,” states the PAC recommendation. “The US needs to advocate for its tuna fishery based in American Samoa.” According to the PAC, current conservation and management measures of the WCPFC that limit high seas days is damaging to the US purse seine fleet and the canneries in American Samoa.One topic of concern to multiple advisory bodies is the American Samoa tuna fleet, which consists of longline vessels targeting South Pacific albacore and purse-seine vessels targeting skipjack. The local longline vessels have suffered from reduced catches, possibly due to an unchecked, four-fold increase in the Chinese fleet in the region, while the local purse-seine vessels have suffered from a reduction in their traditional fishing grounds in the Kiribati exclusive economic zone (EEZ) from 4,313 fishing days in 2014 to 300 days this year. Established by the United States for its purse seine vessels, the Effort Limit Area for Purse Seine (ELAPS) includes all areas of high seas and US EEZ between 20 degrees N and 20 degrees S in the WCPFC Convention area, i.e., the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). US purse seine vessels have been shut out of the high seas and US EEZ since June 15 when the US purse seiners reached the US limit of 1,828 fishing days.

Additionally, Council advisory bodies recommend that NMFS expedite its economic analysis of the impacts of the US purse-seineeffort limit rules. A petition filed on May 12 by Tri Marine Management Company to open the ELAPS to US purse seiners delivering at least of half of their catch to tuna processing facilities in American Samoa is being denied by NMFS due to lack of this information. The petition had unsuccessfully invoked the special requirements the WCPFC affords to Small Islands Developing State (SIDS) and Participating Territories, including American Samoa, in recognition of their aspirations to develop their fisheries.

The second issue addressed by multiple advisors concerns bigeye tuna, which has been experiencing Pacific-wide overfishing for decades. The species is targeted by the Hawaii longline fishery, which reached the 2015 US quota of 3,554 metric tons (mt) in the WCPFC Convention area on Aug. 5. The fishery was closed in the WCPO for two months until NMFS on Oct. 9 approved a fishing agreement that allows the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) to transfer 1,000 mt of its 2,000 mt quota to the Hawaii fishery.

The Council is tasked annually with recommending the bigeye quota for CNMI, American Samoa and Guam. Some advisers say the Council should specify the 2016 US Territory longline bigeyetuna limits at 2,000 mt per Territory or higher based upon scientific assessment that it doesn’t impede international bigeye conservation objectives, whereby 1,000 mt per Territory or more would be authorized to be allocated to US fishermen through fishing agreements approved by NMFS. Other advisors and a majority of the PAC recommend that the United States work to restore the bigeye catch limit applicable to the Hawaii longline fishery. The fishery’s 2009 level established by the WCPFC was 3,763 mt, i.e., the fishery’s 2004 catch of 4,181 mt minus 10 percent. It was noted that the Hawaii fishery is highly monitored, fishes in an area of low impact to the bigeye stock and supplies a local domestic market. It has also recognized the Hawaii longline fishery has been the only longline fishery to close down due to reaching its limit.

The SSC and the PAC propose that the United States at the 12th regular meeting of the WCPFC introduce and strongly advocate for spatial management of the longline fisheries to conserve bigeye. The meeting will be held Dec. 3 to 8 in Bali, Indonesia. The SSC also suggests that work plans be developed to register fish aggregation devices as fishing gear, to research the Eastern Pacific Ocean as a bigeye tuna spawning area and to address observer coverage and monitoring. The PAC agrees that there are serious concerns of an uneven playing field with regards to compliance and monitoring within the WCPFC and recommends that the United States significantly increase its efforts to gain improvements in enforcement and monitoring of fisheries of other WCPFC member countries to a level that is comparable to the United States.

Another common concern of the Council’s advisory bodies is the development of the American Samoa alia (small-scale catamaran) fleet. They recommend that the American Samoa Government allocate money it received for disaster relief to fix the alia in the Manu`a Islands to be seaworthy for fishing. They also suggest the Council work with the local alia fleet and the American Samoa government on training opportunities to improve seafood handling and quality, identification of export markets and reduced freight costs.

Multiple advisory bodies also recommend that the Council select annual catch limits for bottomfish in the US Territories for 2016 and 2017 equal to the acceptable biological catch set by the SSC. This would equate to 106,000 pounds for American Samoa; 66,000 pounds for Guam; and 228,000 pounds for CNMI.

For more on the Council 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.