Saving Seafood

News for the Western Pacific Region

Scientists to Consider Rebuilding Plan for American Samoa Bottomfish and Other US Pacific Islands Fishery Management Issues

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

Scientists from throughout the Pacific will convene June 9-11, 2020, to discuss fishery management issues and make recommendations for future management of fisheries in the Western Pacific Region. The meeting of the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will be held by web conference. The full agenda, background documents and instructions for connecting to the meeting and providing oral public comments are available at www.wpcouncil.org/event/136th-scientific-and-statistical-committee. Among the agenda items are the following:

American Samoa Bottomfish Fishery

The Council has asked the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to apply an interim measure provided for in the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) that would allow for overfishing to be reduced but not ended for a period of one year or less. The interim measure would allow the biomass to rebuild while minimizing the impacts of a severe reduction in catch to the fishing community. NMFS calculated that at 13,000 pounds the stock would still see a 1% increase in biomass. However, implementation of the interim measure would be challenging because only 15% of the bottomfish habitat is in federal waters and fishing effort is mostly in territorial waters. NMFS will provide an update on where it is at in terms of completing the interim measure rule.

The MSA requires the Council to specify the annual catch limit (ACL) in conjunction with the SSC setting the acceptable biological catch for the American Samoa bottomfish fishery for fishing years 2021 to 2024. Council staff will provide an update on the specification process. Given the scientific uncertainty of the fishery, working groups have recommended a 30% risk of overfishing. The law allows up to a 50% risk of overfishing. The catch associated with a 30% risk level given the 2019 stock assessment for the fishery by NMFS is 2,000 pounds. The average annual catch from 2016 to 2018 has been 18,352 pounds.

The 2019 stock assessment found the American Samoa bottomfish fishery to be overfished (the stock biomass is below the level needed for it to reproduce at maximum sustainable yield) and subject to overfishing (the level of fishing effort is not sustainable, i.e., would lead to an overfished status). The Council, in consultation with its SSC, must develop and implement within two years a plan that would rebuild the overfished stock within 10 years. At the same time, the Council must immediately end overfishing. The current projection from NMFS shows the stock could rebuild within 10 years with an ACL ranging between 0 to 1,500 pounds.

The SSC may provide advice on potential options that could simultaneously rebuild the bottomfish stock, end overfishing and keep the fishery open.

Stock Definitions

Stock status definition criteria for the management unit species under each of the five Council Fishery Ecosystem Plans will be developed and used to provide guidance on National Standards 3 of the MSA.Bottomfish stocks in two adjacent island areas for the same management units are currently split up by jurisdictional boundaries, which may not be commensurate with the distribution of the management units. Research on reef fish shows no genetic differentiation in adults and recruits between the two regions. In the case of North Pacific striped marlin, stock boundaries are dictated by geopolitical jurisdictional boundaries drawn by regional fishery management organizations. Like territorial bottomfish, this stock has issues for which jurisdictional boundaries are not consistent with biological information (genetics, movement from tagging, life history commonalities) that should replace jurisdictional boundaries for defining stocks. National Standard 3 of the MSA states; “To the extent practicable, an individual stock of fish shall be managed as a unit throughout its range, and interrelated stocks of fish shall be managed as a unit or in close coordination.”

Main Hawaiian Island Uku

The SSC will hear a report on the review of the 2020 main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) uku (Aprion virescens; grey snapper) stock assessment. The review was performed in Honolulu Feb. 24-28, 2020. Model estimates of population biomass show a gradual decline from 1948 to the late 1980s, followed by a brief period of stability and a substantial increase in biomass starting in the early 2000s. The SSC will determine if the assessment is the best scientific information available for fishery management decisions.

Electronic Reporting

Council staff will be presenting an overview of the Catchit Logit app suite, an electronic reporting system developed by the Council in collaboration with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. This is an integrated reporting system where the fisher app and fish vendor app are linked by the administration app. This provides a near-real-time reporting system and an alternative source of fishery-dependent data to support the development of a new stock assessment. This self-reporting system is supported by the mandatory license and reporting regulations in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam (still being developed). Council staff will show elements of the app and dashboard system that automatically summarize the data of individual fishermen on their devices and a public version that summarizes the data for the fishery as a whole. This effort will also be supported by comprehensive outreach to the fishing community and a training workshop for fishermen and fish retailers that will be participating in this program.

Recommendations made by the SSC on these and other matters will be considered by the Council when it meets June 22-25, 2020, by web conference (Webex) with host sites at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa, Chuchuko Room, 202 Hilton Rd., Tumon Bay, Guam; Hyatt Regency Saipan, Royal Palm Ave., Micro Beach Rd., Saipan, CNMI; and Department of Port Administration, Airport Conference Room, Pago Pago International Airport, Tafuna Village, American Samoa. Instructions on connecting to Webex, agendas and briefing documents will be posted at www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars.

China’s seafood industry asking for favors at National People’s Congress

June 3, 2020 — The ongoing annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s parliament, which began on 22 May, has been dominated by discussions on the impact of the coronavirus, which forced the postponement of the meeting from its original dates in March.

But within the corridors of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where delegates meet once a year to rubber stamp laws drafted by the Communist Party, delegates from the fishing industry to the NPC were on the hunt for government backing for deals and carve-outs. Among them was Xia Yong Xiang, director of the Daishan Fishery Cooperative in Daishan, part of the massive east coast metropolis of Zhoushan, which has traditionally been China’s largest fishery port since the country started sending vessels to distant waters in the 1980s. Xia has been pushing for government subsidies to be refocused on Chinese vessels operating in the North Pacific and the Indian Ocean – which would help his firm, since many of its 600 vessels work those waters.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fishers urged to register for $1M given for Guam fisheries

June 2, 2020 — Of $300 million set aside from the CARES Act for fisheries throughout the U.S. and territories, Guam will be receiving $1 million.

The Guam Department of Agriculture’s Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources is in communication with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration working on guidelines for the money.

Once the guidelines are developed, the money will be given to a fisheries commission that will oversee the dispersal of the money to individual fishers on Guam, according to the agency. That commission will work with the Agriculture division to develop a plan for Guam and in anticipation of this, the division has already written a draft plan based on general guidelines already provided and will submit this for approval once the guidelines are ready.

Read the full story at KUAM

Fishery Council Leaders Discuss COVID-19; NMFS Touts ‘New Normal’ for US Seafood at CCC Meeting

June 1, 2020 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council hosted leaders from the eight regional fishery management councils this week by video conference.

The first of the Council Coordination Committee’s biannual meetings spanned time zones from New England to American Samoa as the members and NMFS representatives discussed issues relevant to all of the Councils.

Read the full story at Seafood News

Collapse in Myanmar Seafood Exports Puts 1 Million Jobs At Risk

June 1, 2020 — About 1 million people may lose their jobs in Myanmar’s fisheries industry, with almost all exports ceasing since February as the spread of Covid-19 prompted major buyers, led by China and the U.S., to halt orders.

Processing plants wouldn’t have been able to deliver anyway, as factory closures were part of the government’s measures to stall the pandemic. Before the outbreak, the Myanmar Fisheries Federation forecast record exports of $1 billion this year, up about 40% from 2019. That’s been slashed to $350 million.

The fisheries sector employs about 3.5 million people in Myanmar, roughly 6% of the Southeast Asian nation’s workforce. In some coastal regions, one in three workers earns a living from seafood and marine products, according to a World Bank report in June 2019.

Read the full story at Bloomberg

US considering revocation of Hong Kong’s special trade status

May 29, 2020 — United States Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced on 27 May that the State Department is recommending the revocation of Hong Kong’s special status, which would eliminate special tariff exemptions to the region.

Hong Kong’s special status was created in 1997, five years before the United Kingdom handed control of Hong Kong over to China with special conditions. The status gives Hong Kong special trade and economic status benefits, and the region currently has a zero tariff rate on U.S. imports.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

COVID-19 Impacts on Fisheries and NOAA Surveys among the Concerns Addressed by the Nation’s Fishery Management Councils

May 29, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

Leaders of the nation’s eight Regional Fishery Management Councils concluded the first of their biannual meetings in 2020 today by videoconference. The Council Coordination Committee (CCC) meeting provides the Councils and heads of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS, also known as NOAA Fisheries) an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to all of the Councils. The meeting is open to the public. Nearly 200 persons attended the two-day meeting. Among the top concerns of the CCC were impacts of COVID-19 on the nation’s fisheries.

The CCC expressed its appreciation to Chris Oliver, NOAA Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, for his unwavering support of fishing-related industries and his efforts to work with the President and his administration on the Executive Order (EO) Promoting American Seafood Competitiveness and Economic Growth. The EO asked the Councils to identify and make recommendations regarding regulatory burdens on domestic fisheries. In advance of individual Council recommendations regarding the EO, the CCC will send a letter to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur L. Ross Jr. collectively reiterating their recommendation to remove existing monument fishing prohibitions and to restore authority over fisheries throughout the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including marine national monument waters, to the Councils and the Department of Commerce under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA).

The CCC noted that the CARES Act included $300 million to address impacts of COVID-19 on the nation’s fisheries. It recommended, if additional funds are provided to mitigate the impacts on the industry, that distribution of those funds should take into account the use of other relief programs, such as those offered through the Small Business Administration, US Department of Agriculture and Paycheck Protection Program. The CCC said, as a general principle, entities that receive support from other programs should be given a lower priority than those that do not. It also said funding allocations should consider loss directly related to COVID-19.

“The biggest impact to US commercial fisheries in the Western Pacific Region and our ability to provide food to the nation is our inability to fish in 83 percent of the US EEZ waters around Hawaii and 52 percent of the US EEZ in our region due principally to marine national monument fishing restrictions,” noted Taotasi Archie Soliai, chair of the Western Pacific Council, which hosted the meeting.

Francisco (Cisco) Werner, PhD, NOAA Fisheries chief science advisor and director of its Scientific Programs, reported that NOAA has cancelled approximately 55 surveys (includes multiple legs of individual surveys), involving NOAA vessels, partner vessels (e.g., academia, states, etc.) and commercial charters. To date, these surveys account for approximately 1,380 lost planned days-at-sea (DAS) between March 20 and July 20, 2020, due to COVID-19.

The CCC requested that NMFS provide more information on its plans and strategies to deal with the delays in the NOAA ship and chartered surveys and on any alternative use of the unused portion of NMFS funds allocated for surveys and mission DAS for FY2020.

Offshore wind energy projects concerned several Councils. The CCC discussed the need for a process for Councils to weigh-in on and verify impacts of wind energy projects to fisheries in their region. It was noted that, although NMFS efforts are largely focused on assessing impacts, the New England and Mid-Atlantic Councils have not had much response to their recommendations to minimize those impacts through their proposals on where and how the turbines should be placed in the ocean. The Western Pacific Council expressed concern that offshore wind areas would take away fishing grounds and act as fish aggregating devices and could affect seasonal migrations of fish and attract juvenile fish and protected species. It was also concerned about the impacts from undersea cables on benthic habitats and bottom substrate. The Pacific Council had concerns about the use of short data sets not reflecting the expected effort patterns in fisheries that are being rebuilt and will be reopened soon.

The CCC made several additional recommendations to better coordinate Council and NMFS actions, including the following among others:

  • Continue the development of an approach and implementation plan to openly track the status of all Policy Directives,
  • Procedural Directives, and associated Supplements (such as regional implementation plans).
  • Provide sufficient time for Councils to review and comment on the draft Procedural Guidance for Changing Assessed Stock Status from Known to Unknown.
  • Provide statutory assistance for clarifying aquaculture authorities.

The CCC approved a habitat partner engagement letter and sending it. The CCC further approved conducting a Fisheries Science Center Engagement Webinar.

The CCC expressed concern that NMFS guidance on data poor stocks and alternative management approaches may not provide adequate guidance on MSA National Standard 1 to resolve conflicts that arise between scientific advice and the constraints imposed by current laws and policies. It was also concerned that the guidance may not adequately address the need for status determination criteria for model-resistant stocks.

The CCC supported the recognition of functional equivalency in the proposed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedure revision. It believed that MSA actions fulfill NEPA requirements because the development of fishery actions is inherently an environmental review process and provide ample opportunities for public review. The CCC said it looked forward to working with NMFS and the White House Council on Environmental Quality to develop agency guidance for determining functional equivalence and implementing the functional equivalency provision. It encouraged NMFS to initiate the process for applying the provision to MSA actions as soon as possible, in coordination with the Councils.

For more information on the CCC meeting, go to http://www.fisherycouncils.org/ccc-meetings/may-2020.

Pacific Fisheries officials extend observer requirement suspensions to 31 July

May 29, 2020 — Pacific Fisheries officials, on 21 May, extended a suspension of 100 percent observer coverage requirements on all purse-seiners fishing in the waters of member-nations to 31 July.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), in a circular memo, endorsed the extension of the measure, stating that the “temporary suspension will apply to new trips after a vessel operator has met any requirement for repatriation of observers currently onboard a vessel.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Fish Councils Look For Ways To Bounce Back From Pandemic

May 29, 2020 — Archie Soliai was supposed to be leading a meeting at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu’s North Shore this week, but instead he appeared on a computer screen with a pixelated view of Pago Pago in American Samoa in the background.

Soliai is the chairman of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, a quasi-governmental federal agency that oversees fish stocks in U.S. waters from Hawaii to the Pacific Island territories of American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam.

He works for the StarKist Samoa tuna cannery, and over the course of two days hosted a meeting of the nation’s premier fisheries managers via a WebEx video conference to discuss how commercial fishermen could rebound from the coronavirus outbreak that so far has killed more than 101,000 people in the U.S. and 358,000 worldwide.

Read the full story at the Honolulu Civil Beat