Saving Seafood

Westpac council chair makes plea for Am Samoa in face of proposed PRI sanctuary

October 28, 2023 — Western Pacific Fishery Management Council Chair Taulapapa Will Sword made an impassioned plea for assistance on the proposed Pacific Remote Islands (PRI) national marine sanctuary at a national meeting of the regional fishery management councils.

In a discussion on the process for establishing fishing regulations in national marine sanctuaries during the meeting Oct. 11-13, 2023 in Alexandria, Virginia, Taulapapa exposed the plight of American Samoa in the face of the federal government move proposing a sanctuary in the PRI.

“This administration’s EOs [Executive Orders] on equity and environmental justice goals are rubbish if this sanctuary proposal becomes a reality for there will be no commercial fishing,” said Taulapapa. “Without our cannery, we become useless to this great country; our underserved fishing community suffers, for fishing is our culture!”

Read the full article at Samoa News

Wanted: New Executive Director For Hawaii Fisheries Council

October 14, 2023 — Kitty Simonds, one of the most influential people in the Pacific in U.S. fishing policy, says she’s actively seeking someone to replace her as executive director of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, a post she’s held for 40 years.

“I haven’t decided exactly when,” Simonds said of her impending departure. “I have been searching for suitable candidates.”

Simonds said she’s not ready to reveal the identities of any of her possible successors or the people that she and others at Wespac have been talking to, but the process has been playing out for many months.

One name that has been floated among those keeping an eye on Wespac’s future is Esther Kiaaina, currently a member of the Honolulu City Council.

Kiaaina said that while she’s heard the same rumors, she has not been approached by Simonds or any others from Wespac about taking on the position nor is it something that she is interested in pursuing should Simonds ultimately decide to retire.

Read the full article at Civil Beat

Fisheries council opposes Biden administration’s plans for new marine monument

September 20, 2023 — The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, at its latest meeting, again signaled its opposition to the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans to establish a new marine monument in the Pacific Remote Islands.

The administration’s proposal would form a new sanctuary around the Pacific Remote Islands using the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, creating a 770,000 square mile area that would be fully conserved. The conservation plan, the council said at its latest meeting, is likely already satisfied by the existing fishing regulations that govern the area.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Office of National Marine Sanctuaries received 57,000 comments on proposed PRIA sanctuary

September 18, 2023 — The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) updated Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) members on the process and timeline on decisions regarding the proposed Pacific Remote Islands (PRI) National Marine Sanctuary designation — noting the public comment period garnered approximately 57,000 comments. The topics discussed ranged from support to opposition of the proposed sanctuary with suggestions for regulations, boundaries, opportunities and improvements.

Brady Phillips, ONMS, said the Council’s input would be helpful to draft alternatives to balance the President’s directive to “provide lasting and comprehensive protection” with existing fishing rules and regulations. Phillips noted ONMS is considering all information received to develop a full range of alternatives for the proposed sanctuary.

“I think we need to be honest about what additional regulations would protect,” said University of Washington professor Ray Hilborn. “Nearshore coral reefs are already covered — the real threats aren’t coming from fishing, they are coming from climate change.”

Acting SSC Chair Erik Franklin noted that on the mainland United States, sanctuaries are viewed as multi-use zones, including fishing, and questioned the difference in the Pacific Islands Region.

Read the full article at Samoa News

Fishing council votes to ban wire leaders for Hawaii fishery

June 24, 2021 — The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council is recommending the prohibition of wire leaders for Hawaii’s deep-set longline fishery to protect the oceanic whitetip shark, and now that the U.S. has made the move to protect the species, advocates hope that it will persuade international agencies to do the same.

The council, also known as Wespac, made the decision to ban wire leaders—and replace them with monofilament nylon leaders—during a meeting Tuesday. The move would reduce post-release injury and death to oceanic whitetip sharks, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, that get hooked on longline fishing hooks.

Wespac also recommended that all longline vessels operating under the Pacific Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan be required to remove as much trailing gear from caught sharks as possible.

The amendments will be reviewed by the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full story from The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at Yahoo! News

American Samoa loses fishing rights decision in Ninth Circuit

April 2, 2021 — The American Samoa government was dealt a setback Friday last week when the Ninth Circuit Court reversed a decision that blocks large fishing vessels from fishing in a zone around their territory.

In 2016, the government of American Samoa claimed in a federal lawsuit the United States shrank a prohibited fishing zone around the South Pacific territory that was meant specifically for local fishers. The zone changed from 50 nautical miles to 12.

Boats larger than 50 feet were blocked from fishing and meant to avoid gear conflicts and competition between large fishing operations and local vessels.

American Samoa, through its status as an unorganized sovereign territory, is allowed a special right to maintain its traditions, culture and control of its lands and waters under a treaty signed in 1900 between several island chiefs and the U.S government.

But in 2016, the U.S. government said there was only one small vessel in the territory that was fishing in the waters — something the American Samoa government denied in its federal complaint filed in the District of Hawaii.

Read the full story at Marianas Variety

Western Pacific Scientists Recommend International Actions to End Overfishing for Striped Marlin

March 19, 2021 — HONOLULU — The following was released by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The SSC suggested several actions to end overfishing of North Pacific striped marlin in order to satisfy the Magnuson-Stevens Act (Section 304(i)) obligation both internationally via the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and domestically. The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council made these and other recommendations during its three-day virtual meeting this week.

International recommendations included improving standardized reporting of billfish catch and discards for all WCPFC fisheries; using circle hooks in all WCPFC longline fisheries; limiting WCPFC member catches to approximately 1 million pounds (500 metric tons) per year; and supporting a consultative rebuilding plan.

A new stock assessment may be provided in 2022 and the SSC proposed that discard mortality (fish that don’t survive capture and release) be included within future rebuilding scenario analyses. The SSC also recommended that future rebuilding efforts utilize a phased-in approach over several years based on a target catch rate rather than a rebuilding timeline.

To support U.S. Pacific Territory data collection efforts, the SSC recommended the integration of creel survey, commercial receipt book, biosampling and app-based data collection systems, such as the Council’s Catchit Logit app, to generate the necessary data from different segments of the fisheries. The Council, territorial fishery management agencies and NMFS are working closely to meet the requirements for stock assessments and address deficiencies in data-limited or data-poor fisheries.

The SSC also recommended supporting an experimental study to evaluate the effectiveness of various mitigation combinations to reduce seabird interactions in the Hawaiʻi shallow-set longline fishery. Currently, if setting off the stern of the boat, conservation measures require the vessel to start setting its gear one hour after sunset (night-setting), use blue-dyed bait and strategic discharge of fish parts and spent bait.

Night-setting, while considered to be a “gold standard” for seabird mitigation, prevents shallow-set longline fishermen from adjusting their setting time according to the moon phase to optimize swordfish catch. Fishermen have expressed interest in testing out a new combination of mitigation measures, including tori (bird scaring) lines, to improve operational efficiency while ensuring impacts to seabirds remain low in the fishery.

Recommendations made by the SSC on these and other matters will be considered by the Council when it meets March 23-25, 2021, virtually with host sites at Tedi of Samoa Building, Suite 208B, Fagatogo Village, American Samoa; BRI Building, Suite 205, Kopa Di Oru St., Garapan, Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); and Cliff Pointe, 304 W. O’Brien Drive, Hagatña, Guam. On the first day, NMFS will give a briefing on President Biden’s Executive Order 14008 on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.

Instructions on connecting to the web conference, agendas and briefing documents are posted at www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars. Host sites are subject to local and federal safety and health guidelines regarding COVID-19; check the Council website for updates.

Hawaii longliners seek temporary visas for foreign crew

February 12, 2021 — After two decades it’s far past time to make it easier for foreign fishermen who work in the Hawaii longline fleet, industry advocates say.

The lockdown after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., still reverberates in the U.S. Pacific pelagic fishery, with complicated entry rules and procedures for crew from Indonesia and the Philippines who make up the bulk of the fleet’s workforce.

“Prior to 9/11 our crewmen were allowed to fly into” Honolulu to board the fleet of some 140 longline vessels, said Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association.

“So it has been about 20 years now for our fleet not being able to fly our crew in,” he said. “This issue has been around for a while and we need to resolve it.”

During the covid-19 pandemic, the Hawaii fleet has been a vital lifeline for protein to the state’s population even while taking a huge hit in lost revenue. The state’s tourism economy is a scant 25 percent of its usual volume, and between March and July 2020 the longline fleet’s revenue was down 45 percent with the pandemic collapse in restaurant business, said Kingma.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

WPRFMC 2020 Public Meetings Notice

November 13, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council announces the following public meetings on fisheries management in offshore waters of Hawai‘i (HI), American Samoa (AS), Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA). Unless otherwise noted, the meetings will be held by web conference. Host sites are subject to local and federal safety and health guidelines regarding COVID-19; check the Council website for updates. All times listed are local island times. For more information on the virtual meeting connection and complete agendas, click on the meeting title, go to www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars, email info@wpcouncil.org, fax (808) 522-8226 or phone (808) 522-8220.

AS Archipelago Fishery Ecosystem Plan (FEP) Advisory Panel (AP)
Nov. 18 (W) 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (SST)
Major agenda items: AS Bottomfish annual catch limits for 2020-2021 and stock rebuilding plan; Reasonable and prudent measures (RPMs) and/or reasonable and prudent alternatives (RPAs) for the AS longline (ASLL) fisheries; AP plans; and AS fishery issues and activities.

Mariana Archipelago FEP-Guam AP
Nov. 19 (Th) 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (ChST)
Major agenda items: Guam bottomfish stock rebuilding plan; AP plans; and Guam fishery issues and activities.

Pacific Pelagic FEP Plan Team
Nov. 19 (Th) 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. (HST)
Major agenda items: Oceanic whitetip shark report; North Pacific striped marlin rebuilding measures; and RPMs and/or RPAs for the HI deep-set longline (DSLL) and ASLL fisheries.

HI Archipelago FEP AP
Nov. 20 (F) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (HST)
Major agenda items: Options for including tori lines in HI longline fishery seabird mitigation measures; RPMs and/or RPAs for the HI DSLL and ASLL fisheries; False killer whale take and recovery plans; AP plans; and HI fishery issues and activities.

Mariana Archipelago FEP-CNMI AP
Nov. 21 (Sat) 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. (ChST)
Major agenda items: Guam bottomfish stock rebuilding plan; AP plans; and CNMI fishery issues and activities.

138th Scientific & Statistical Committee
Direct link to meeting: https://tinyurl.com/138SSCMtg. If prompted, password is SSC138mtg.
Nov. 30 – Dec. 1 (M – T) 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (HST)
Major agenda items: RPMs and/or RPAs for the HI DSLL and ASLL fisheries (action item); North Pacific striped marlin catch limits (action item); American Samoa bottomfish acceptable biological catch for fishing year 2021-2022 (action item); and American Samoa and Guam bottomfish rebuilding plans (action items).

Pelagic & International Standing Committee
Dec. 1 (T) 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. (HST)
Major agenda items: North Pacific striped marlin catch and/or effort limits (action item); and RPMs and/or RPAs for the HI DSLL and ASLL fisheries (action item).

Executive & Budget Standing Committee
Dec. 1 (T) 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (HST) (4 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. closed to public)
Major agenda items: Financial and administrative matters; Council family changes; Litigation update; and Officer election.

184th Council Meeting
Direct link to meeting: https://tinyurl.com/184CouncilMtg. If prompted, password is CM184mtg.
Host sites: Cliff Pointe, 304 W. O’Brien Drive, Hagatna, Guam
BRI Bldg., Suite 205, Kopa Di Oru St., Garapan, Saipan, CNMI
Tedi of Samoa Bldg., Suite 208B, Fagatogo Village, AS
Dec. 2 – 4 (W – F) 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (HST)

Major agenda items: North Pacific striped marlin catch and/or effort limits (action item); RPMs and/or RPAs for the HI DSLL and ASLL fisheries (action item); American Samoa bottomfish annual catch limits for fishing year 2021-2022 (action item); and American Samoa and Guam bottomfish rebuilding plans (action items).

WPRFMC: Community Stakeholders Discuss Issues Key to Sustainable Fisheries

November 5, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recently convened three virtual meetings in its continued efforts to support regional and local fishing and seafood communities. The meetings highlight the Council’s emphasis on collaboration among agencies and promoting stakeholder involvement in the fishery management process.

The Fishing Industry Advisory Committee (FIAC) is one of three advisory bodies to the Council required by the Magnuson-Stevens Act that provides input and recommendations on management and conservation actions from an industry perspective. Members include representatives from Hawaiʻi, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam in industry-related sectors such as fishing, seafood processing, distribution and marketing industries, fishing tackle and marine service and supply providers.

The Non-Commercial Fisheries Advisory Committee (NCFAC) has existed in a simpler form since 1999, but its purpose has now expanded from gathering recreational fishing data in Hawaiʻi to providing advice to the Council on non-commercial fishery issues, data collection and research. The Council also met with the State of Hawaiʻi and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to discuss improving state and federal fishery management coordination and filling regulatory and monitoring gaps.

FIAC members emphasized the tremendous impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on fishing and marketing. They put forward several recommendations to the Council, including supporting a Pacific Island-wide seafood promotion program, improving harbor safety and management, redesigning fish aggregating devices to be more environmentally responsible and ensuring industry representation on the national NMFS Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee.

The NCFAC meeting focused on the Council’s current data collection efforts and needs and research priorities. Committee members noted that smart device applications and electronic monitoring could be incorporated into existing data collection systems. The voluntary Hawaii Marine Recreational Fishing Survey collects non-commercial catch data, but garnering participation continues to be an issue. Members suggested increasing outreach efforts to fishermen regarding data usage to demystify the fishery management process, encourage participation and instill a sense of pride that they are part of the solution.

At the Council meeting with the State of Hawaii and NMFS representatives, participants acknowledged continuing data gaps and identified several areas where federal and state rules could be better aligned, especially in the non-commercial small-boat fisheries. While accurate, timely catch and effort data from fishermen is important for improving stock assessments and to minimize management uncertainty, some discrepancies still exist. For example, the Hawaiʻi longline and bottomfish fishermen report their fishing trip information within 72 hours of landing; and fishermen with state commercial marine licenses catching pelagics, uku, Kona crab and other species continue to report on a monthly basis.

All three groups plan to regularly meet and continue to address fishing community needs.