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 Calls for Day One Monument Monitoring and Clearer False Killer Whale Analysis Ahead of Council Meeting

December 15, 2025 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Thursday the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council wrapped up a three-day virtual meeting, delivering scientific advice that will help shape decisions at the Council’s 205th meeting next week.

 Marine National Monuments: “Day One” Monitoring if Fishing is Restored

A major SSC focus was what it would take to evaluate real-world outcomes if commercial fishing restrictions change in the Rose Atoll, Marianas Trench and Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monuments (MNM). The SSC stressed any restoration should be paired with immediate monitoring and research. Members said managers should not be forced to make future choices without the data needed to measure impacts. 

Among the recommended priorities, the SSC cited the need for “tagging/telemetry and low-impact research approaches” to better understand how fish move in and around monument waters, and “co-designing research with fishing and indigenous communities, as appropriate.”

 The Council will take up monument issues in multiple agenda items, including discussion on commercial fishing recommendations for the Pacific Islands Heritage MNM expansion area and potential options for Rose Atoll, the Marianas Trench and Papahānaumokuākea. The Council will also hear an SSC report on marine protected area science as part of that discussion.

 More Information and Analysis Needed on False Killer Whale Trends

The SSC cautioned that more information and analysis are needed to diagnose what is driving the estimated population trends for the endangered main Hawaiian Islands insular false killer whale population in an August 2025 paper. The estimated decline could reflect limits in the underlying data or the modeling approach and may not reflect the true population trend.

 SSC members reiterated recommendations they made in 2023, when they reviewed a preliminary version of the analysis. They said a step-by-step sensitivity analysis is needed to show how methodological changes affected results, and that key demographic data are missing. The SSC noted those recommendations were not addressed in the published paper, and their concerns about the validity of the estimated abundance trends remain.

 The August 2025 paper used new analytical methods that account for animal movement in the photo-identification data. The analysis estimated abundance increased in the first half of the time series (1999-2022) but also estimated a 3.5% annual decline over the last 10 years. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) researchers and collaborators who published the study cited possible drivers, including evidence of fishery interactions, based on dorsal fin and mouthline injuries. They also point to other threats like pollution and reduced genetic diversity.

The island-associated insular false killer whale was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2012. It is separate from the pelagic population, which is known to have incidental interactions with the Hawai‘i longline fishery.

 Territorial Coral Reef Species Life History

The SSC reviewed results from a Council-supported project that used archived samples from PIFSC’s Life History Program to look at 12 coral reef species, about 2,200 samples, from Guam, the CNMI and American Samoa. Researchers used the samples to estimate age, growth and reproduction. 

Members supported expanding life history work to more species and improving how samples are collected so scientists capture a wider range of sizes and seasons. The SSC noted market-based sampling can miss smaller and immature fish that can limit maturity estimates.

The SSC also recommended continued coordination with PIFSC and territorial agencies, along with training and quality-control steps to strengthen fishery-dependent life history datasets used in local management. Those steps include improved species and sex identification, and data-entry checks.

 The SSC is the Council’s main scientific advisory group. Its recommendations will be presented during the Council meeting, alongside agency reports and public testimony. Council members consider that science as they debate and vote on initial and final actions and set future work priorities.

How to Join Council Meeting

The Council meeting will be held virtually Dec. 16–17, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hawai‘i time. Major agenda items include commercial fishing actions tied to MNMs, 2026–2029 CNMI bottomfish catch limits, an ESA review for the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fishery, vessel electronic monitoring and more. The agenda includes scheduled public comment periods, including a block for non-agenda items at the end of the first day. A summary of action items is available at: https://tinyurl.com/205CouncilMtgActions.

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

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

Scientists Deliberate Impacts of Monument Pelagic Fishing Prohibitions

December 9, 2025 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

On the first day of its 158th meeting, the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council reviewed the best available science on the potential benefits and costs of restoring commercial fishing in U.S. Pacific marine national monuments.

A presentation by SSC member Ray Hilborn, University of Washington professor, examined the limited data available from within existing monument closures, new information from recent re-openings and economic performance of U.S. longline vessels before and after closures. The analysis compared widely promoted claims that large marine protected areas (MPAs) increase biodiversity, create healthier ecosystems and support sustainable fisheries with empirical evidence from the Pacific.

The presentation highlighted that:

  • There is very little direct fishery or ecosystem data from inside the closed areas, with most insights coming from catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) near monument boundaries, acoustic data from drifting fish aggregating devices and economic studies.
  • For the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, modeled increases in tuna abundance through spillover were modest (on the order of a few percent), and may not translate into large fishery gains.
  • In U.S. monument waters, where historical fishing pressure was relatively low, large ecological responses to closure are not expected, and recent studies have found no measurable increase in tuna biomass density inside open-ocean MPAs and, in some cases, substantial reductions in bigeye CPUE linked to the loss of historically productive grounds.
  • Closures of marine national monuments create an illusion of “protection” while leaving non-fishing threats ignored.

Hilborn’s talk also outlined potential SSC platforms for discussion, including that well-regulated U.S. fisheries under the Magnuson–Stevens Act (MSA) are unlikely to pose an abatable threat to pelagic stocks that can be solved through large open-ocean MPAs alone, and that management frameworks such as the MSA and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission already provide tools to achieve conservation goals while considering human and community impacts.

Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association, provided public comment following the SSC discussion. He noted that existing monument area closures “exclude U.S. vessels from U.S. waters and leave us very constrained in where we can fish.” Citing declining bigeye catch rates, Kingma emphasized that “we need to be able to find and follow the fish – that’s the most important part.”

“We’re not looking for more fish, but to have the opportunity to fish more efficiently away from competitors,” Kingma said.

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.

American Samoa Secures Landmark Victory at WCPFC22, US Makes Progress on Commitments for 2026

December 6, 2025 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The 22nd Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC22) meeting concluded Friday with a unanimous decision securing the long-term future of the South Pacific albacore fishery, a major gain for the American Samoa longline fishery managed by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council.
By consensus, WCPFC members adopted a new management procedure (MP) that could reduce overall South Pacific albacore catch by about 10-12% from recent years to approximately 56,000 metric tons in commission waters. The decision is expected to ease oversupply and improve market conditions for small island fleets, including American Samoa, which saw some of the worst economic conditions on record in 2024. It also meets a key requirement to maintain Marine Stewardship Council certification that allows the American Samoa longline fishery to sell albacore to the local StarKist cannery at a premium price.
“This management procedure has been nearly a decade in the making, and the U.S. Pacific territories took it over the top with their steadfast support,” said Kitty Simonds, Council executive director. “It is a critical step to stabilize the albacore fishery and the island economies and food security that depend on it.”
Council member Nathan Ilaoa, director of the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources, championed a more conservative approach during negotiations. “When operational costs are high and catch rates are low, the only fleets that can continue to operate are those receiving substantial subsidies,” Ilaoa said. “That creates a critical inequity for the American Samoa longline fleet and other small island domestic fleets.”
Representatives from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands supported American Samoa and other Pacific Island delegations. “These positions are consistent with protecting island food security and economies,” said Council member Chelsa Muña, director of Guam’s Department of Agriculture.
Next year, WCPFC members will negotiate an implementing measure and catch allocations to fully operationalize the new albacore MP.
The U.S. delegation, led by NOAA’s Drew Lawler, advanced priorities for Council-managed fisheries, including work toward a bigeye tuna management procedure that considers purse seine as well as longline impacts, and a commitment to adopt a conservation and management measure on electronic monitoring in 2026.
“Members of the U.S. and territorial delegations viewed his leadership as a vast improvement over previous years and said this year’s delegation presented a much stronger unified front,” Simonds said.

NOAA proposing new rules on commercial fishing in the expanded areas of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument

November 25, 2025 — The 205th meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will convene by web conference on December 16-17, 2025.

Host sites for Webex include 1164 Bishop St., Ste. 1400, Honolulu, HI; Tedi of Samoa Bldg., Ste. 208B, Fagatogo Village, AS; BRI Bldg., Ste. 205, Kopa Di Oru St., Garapan, Saipan, CNMI; Cliff Pointe, 304 W. O’Brien Dr., Hagatfia, Guam.

The Webex link is https://tinyurl.com/205Counci1Mtg (if prompted, enter event number: 2864 005 8179; password: CM205mtg).

Specific information on joining the meeting, instructions for connecting to the Webex and providing oral public comments during the meeting will be posted on the Council website at: www.wpcouncil.org/event/205th-council-meeting-virtual-2.

The Council will consider and may take action on the issues summarized below, including any public comments on them. Written public comments on final action items should be received by the Council’s executive director by 5 p.m. (HST), Thursday, December 11, 2025, via postal mail, fax or email as indicated at end of the end of the article.

Read the full article at Samoa News

HAWAII: Green Sea Turtles Have Rebounded. Should Hawaiians Be Able To Eat Them?

November 5, 2025 — Mac Poepoe grew up diving in the waters off Molokaʻi to spear honu — Hawai‘i’s distinct species of green sea turtle — that helped feed his family. He also often saw other fishermen hunt honu for profit, selling its prized meat to shops and restaurants across the channel on Maui.

Those widespread commercial killings helped land the honu on the federal endangered species list in 1978, when Poepoe, a lifelong Friendly Isle resident, was 29 years old. The move didn’t include any cultural exemptions for Hawaiians such as Poepoe, who had sustainably harvested the turtles for generations.

“What it does, it criminalizes us,” Poepoe said Friday. “That law applies to everybody like us that was born eating turtle. It’s not our primary source of food, but it’s one of our resources that we rely on.”

The International Union for Conservation of Nature — a network of governments and conservation groups — actually declared that Hawaiian green sea turtles were no longer endangered more than a decade ago. The federal government, however, still designates the species as endangered and Hawaiian green sea turtles are still protected under U.S. law.

Then, last month, the group expanded its declaration to cover green sea turtles worldwide, saying it considers them a species of “least concern,” meaning they have a less than 10% chance of going extinct in the next century.

Weeks earlier, Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Executive Director Kitty Simonds asked federal fisheries leaders to help restore rights to kill some green sea turtles for cultural purposes, such as special meals.

Read the full article at Civil Beats

Wespac moves toward reopening Pacific monument to commercial fishing

October 6, 2025 — The prospects of opening up Hawaii’s protected marine monument to commercial fishing has moved a step closer to reality.

Members of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, or Wespac, voted Sept. 17 to move toward allowing commercial fishing within four marine national monuments, including Papahanau ­mokuakea and the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument.

The decision followed testimony in strong opposition from Native Hawaiian leaders, scientists and environmental advocates.

Read the full article at The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Local fish vendors share struggles with pricing, imports, and regulations

October 6, 2025 — AT a public meeting at the Crowne Plaza on Oct. 4, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council heard directly from fishing vendors about the challenges they face.

A release from the WPRFMC called the event a “community consultation” and said it was aimed at “strengthening connections with fish vendors and exploring ways to improve markets, pricing, and seafood safety.”

Alex Min of WPRFMC said the organization wanted to hear about a wide range of issues impacting fishing vendors, who he described as “key points of contact” for fisheries.

“You’re seeing a lot of different fish coming to you and through you,” he said. “We think that’s a really important thing to record and make sure your voices are heard.”

Arnel Obando, a resident, said one thing affecting fishermen — and therefore fishing vendors — is the prohibition on monofilament fishing nets. On Saipan, it is illegal to fish with a tekken (gill net) or chenchulu (drag net).

Read the full article at Marianas Variety