March 19, 2020 — Consumers bracing against Covid-19 have raised demands not only for health and safety products but also for many food staples, including tuna. According to a recent National Public Radio report, tuna sales were up more than 31 percent last week compared to the same time last year.
StarKist Samoa, located in the U.S. Territory of American Samoa, supplies tuna for the U.S. market.
March 19, 2020 — US tuna canner StarKist & Co and the fleet that catches its tuna are lamenting fishing restrictions in the American Samoa region they say will make it difficult to continue to supply tuna at a time when shelf-stable product sales are up sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
StarKist, according to a press release published by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, is seeing higher demand for its products, which is creating more work for its StarKist Samoa plant in American Samoa.
“The StarKist Samoa operation relies on the US tuna fishermen, and direct fish deliveries to the cannery are a major component of our business model,” the company said. “We have seen an increase in sales that has been attributed to the Covid-19 impact, and we are doing our best to keep up with the demand. It’s important to note that the global impact of Covid-19 highlights the importance of keeping US suppliers and producers in business to ensure we can sustain the tuna supply for US consumers.”
March 18, 2020 — HONOLULU — The following was released by the American Tunaboat Association, StarKist Samoa, and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
Consumers bracing against Covid-19 have raised demands not only for health and safety products but also for many food staples, including tuna. According to an NPR report yesterday, tuna sales were up more than 31 percent last week compared to the same time last year.
StarKist Samoa, located in the US Territory of American Samoa, supplies tuna for the US market.
“The StarKist Samoa operation relies on the US tuna fishermen, and direct fish deliveries to the cannery are a major component of our business model,” said StarKist Samoa in a statement today. “We have seen an increase in sales that has been attributed to the Covid-19 impact, and we are doing our best to keep up with the demand. It’s important to note that the global impact of Covid-19 highlights the importance of keeping US suppliers and producers in business to ensure we can sustain the tuna supply for US consumers. It continues to be a struggle for the US tuna fisherman to stay in business. The Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, as well as the continued burdens of the international fishing restrictions, has had a detrimental impact on both our US tuna fishermen and the American Samoan economy. In addition, these measures have had little or no impact on tuna conservation or the protection of sensitive marine habitats. Any interruption to the StarKist Samoa supply chain impacts our company’s ability to provide healthy seafood products to our US customers.”
Under US law, American tuna purse-seiners are stringently managed under regulations and enforcement regimes that are far more robust than those of other nations. Among the regulations for US purse-seiners is the requirement for vessels to carry fishery observers.
“The current situation poses critical problems for the operation of the US tuna purse-seine fleet on almost every level,” notes Bill Gibbons-Fly, executive director of the American Tunaboat Association (ATA). The nonprofit organization, established in 1917, represents the owners and operators of the US Pacific tuna purse-seine fleet and is the last true distant-water fishing fleet operating under US flag. “Most Pacific Island countries that provide observers have pulled those observers off boats and called them home,” Gibbons-Fly adds. “We expect others to follow. The increasing travel constraints throughout the Pacific are complicating efforts to get crew, repair parts, technicians and supplies to boats in a timely fashion. And some ports where the boats would offload or transship fish are simply closed to them. This combination of factors not only puts the immediate operations of the fleet at risk, but also raises questions about the ability of this industry, along with many others, to overcome the broader economic and social disruption caused by the current pandemic.”
For further information contact Gibbons-Fly at (410) 940-9385 or wgibbons-fly@atatuna.com; Archie Soliai, government and community relations manager, StarKist Samoa, and chair of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) at Archie.Soliai@StarKist.com; or Sylvia Spalding of the WPRFMC at (808) 383-1069 or sylvia.spalding@wpcouncil.org.
March 17, 2020 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council in Honolulu recommended that the federal catch limits for longline-caught bigeye tuna for the U.S. Territories of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for fishing year 2020 remain at 2,000 metric tons each and the allocation limits be up to 1,500 mt each with a cap of 3,000 mt overall.
Previously, the allocation limits were up to 1,000 mt for each Territory. The new allocation limits and cap ensure that the potential environmental impact remains the same while allowing the territories more flexibility in their allocation choices. The Council’s recommendation from last week’s meeting will be reviewed by the Secretary of Commerce for approval, according to a press release from the Council.
March 17, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and Hawaii Longline Association:
Due to COVID-19 impacts, local food security, self-sufficiency and access to healthy food and fish are increasingly important. Hawaii longline vessels are positioned to continue supplying fish to Hawaii restaurant and retail markets for local Hawaii consumption during the current COVID-19 pandemic.
The Hawaii longline fishery is the largest food producing industry in the State of Hawaii. The fishery is comprised of 150 active vessels supplying highly monitored fresh, ice-chilled fish to Hawaii and US mainland markets.
The Hawaii longline fishery is considered globally as a golden standard in tuna fisheries, with robust management measures and strict monitoring and enforcement.
Hawaii residents consume seafood at twice the national average, as fish is culturally important to Hawaii’s diverse communities.
According to HLA Executive Director Eric Kingma, PhD, “The Hawaii Longline Association [HLA] is working with government officials, restaurants, and retail outlets to ensure that Hawaii consumers continue to be supplied with safe, high-quality, healthy seafood products caught by Hawaii longline vessels.”
For further information, contact Kingma at (808) 389-2653 or Eric.K.Kingma@gmail.com.
March 12, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
Recent stock assessments by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) determined that the bottomfish stocks in the Territories of American Samoa and Guam are overfished and the bottomfish fishery in American Samoa is undergoing overfishing. In October 2019, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recommended that NMFS implement interim measures to address rebuilding of the stocks and overfishing in American Samoa. Today in Honolulu the Council additionally recommended that staff work with NMFS and the American Samoa Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources on consistent in-season monitoring and accountability measures; the training of bottomfish fishermen on electronic reporting; and the potential use of a temporal-spatial closure.
To develop the rebuilding plans for the overfished stock, select members of the Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee and Advisory Panel will work with NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) and Pacific Islands Regional Office to gather needed information. Public meetings will also be held in the two Territories to explore the range of potential management measures for the plans.
To address comments from fishermen that data used in the stock assessment were not accurate, the Council will work with the Territory agencies and NMFS on an outreach plan on the importance of accurate and robust data collection and the management efforts for the bottomfish fisheries in American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
Another comment made by fishermen regards the current federal management of bottomfish as a single stock complex in each of the Territories. In response, the Council requested that PIFSC develop a new bottomfish benchmark assessment on a species resolution that is deemed appropriate during a data preparation workshop at the soonest time practicable. PIFSC was asked to also explore other modeling approaches and data sets aside from the creel surveys and commercial receipt books currently used (e.g., electronic self-reporting) and to engage fishermen throughout the stock assessment process. The Council will work with NMFS and Territory agencies to review the bottomfish management list and discuss the available options and regulatory consequences of adding and removing species from the list.
The Council today also specified annual catch limits (ACLs) for the CNMI and Guam bottomfish fisheries for fishing years 2020-2023. For the CNMI, the Council recommended an ACL of 84,000 pounds (a 39 percent risk of overfishing) and an annual catch target (ACT) of 78,000 pounds (34 percent risk of overfishing). For Guam, the Council recommended an ACL of 27,000 pounds (31 percent risk of overfishing), which allows the catch to be maximized while preventing overfishing and allowing the stock to rebuild within five years. Because data collection systems in Guam and CNMI do not allow for near-real time tracking of catches, the Council recommended a post-season accountability measure where the ACL for the succeeding year will be reduced by the amount of the overage determined by the three-year average of recent catch.
The Council meeting continues tomorrow at the YWCA Fuller Hall, 1040 Richards St., Honolulu, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, go to www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars, email info@wpcouncil.org or call (808) 522-8220.
March 12, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
A new study indicates that the pelagic stock of false killer whales around the Hawaiian Islands may be healthier than previously thought. Amanda Bradford of NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center presented the research yesterday to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which has authority over fisheries in the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ, i.e., generally 3 to 200 miles offshore) of Hawai‘i and other US islands and territories in the Pacific. The Council is meeting this week in Honolulu.
In light of the new population estimates, the Council yesterday asked the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to explore reopening the Southern Exclusion Zone (SEZ), a 132,000-square-mile area spanning the entire EEZ south of the main Hawaiian Islands. Since 2012, the SEZ is closed to the Hawai‘i longline fishery when it interacts with two pelagic false killer whales that result in a mortality and serious injury determination by NMFS. The closed SEZ leaves only 17.8 percent of the EEZ around the Hawaiian Islands open to the fishery.
When the SEZ was implemented, the estimated population size of pelagic false killer whales allowed a maximum of nine individuals from the stock to be removed by means other than natural mortalities. Above that number could impair the stock’s ability to reach or maintain its optimum sustainable population, it was determined. The new estimates may indicate a need to modify that number.
The Council meeting continues today and tomorrow at the YWCA Fuller Hall, 1040 Richards St., Honolulu, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. To participate by web conference: Go to https://wprfmc.webex.com/join/info.wpcouncilnoaa.gov. For more information on the meeting, go to www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars, email info@wpcouncil.org or call (808) 522-8220.
March 11, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
Federal fishery managers today in Honolulu voted to explore mandatory permit and reporting requirements for the pelagic small-boat fishery in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters (3 to 200 miles offshore) around Hawai’i. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will work with the State of Hawai’i Division of Aquatic Resources, as requested by the Council member representing the State’s Department of Land and Natural Resources. The State has jurisdiction over fisheries in waters 0 to 3 miles from shore. Small boat fishermen and pelagic fish (e.g., tuna, billfish, mahimahi, ono) are found in both federal and state waters, which calls for coordinated federal and state management. Information on the pelagic small boat fishery, which does not include Hawai’i longline vessels, is currently insufficient for robust fisheries management. The major gap is the number, catch and effort of noncommercial fishermen. Currently, mandatory permits and reporting are required for the commercial sector only through the State’s commercial marine license program. The Council made its decision following a presentation of the findings of public scoping meetings held throughout the Hawaiian Islands by the Council in early 2020. An options paper on the proposal will be reviewed by the Council at its next meeting in June 2020 in Honolulu.
Tomorrow and Thursday the current Council meeting will continue at the YWCA Fuller Hall, 1040 Richards St., Honolulu, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Key agenda items to be addressed include annual catch limits for the bottomfish fisheries of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for fishing years 2020-2023; revisions to the list of federally managed bottomfish species in American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI; catch and allocation limits for longline-caught bigeye tuna in the US Pacific Island territories for fishing year 2020; and marine conservation plans for Guam, CNMI and the Pacific Remote Island Areas.
To participate by web conference: Go to https://wprfmc.webex.com/join/info.wpcouncilnoaa.gov. You may connect to the audio via the computer or telephone. If you use the telephone for the audio, sign into Webex via your computer first and look for the “call in” prompt to obtain the call-in instructions and a participant number. Public comments will be taken at the end of each agenda section for items relevant to the applicable agenda section only. To make a public comment, send a private chat message via Webex to the “host (Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council)” prior to the start of the public comment period of the applicable agenda section.
For more information on the meeting, go to www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars/ or contact the Council at info@wpcouncil.org or (808) 522-8220.
March 9, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
Members of the public concerned about the coronavirus can participate in next week’s 181st meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council by web conference. The public may also participate in person in the March 10 to 12 meeting 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the YWCA Atherton Hall, 1040 Richards St., Honolulu, and the associated Fishers Forum on Hawai’i fisheries from 6 to 9 p.m. in the upstairs ballroom at Aloha Tower Marketplace, 1 Aloha Tower, Honolulu.
Key agenda items for the meeting include annual catch limits for the bottomfish fisheries of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for fishing years 2020-2023; revisions to the list of federally managed bottomfish species in American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI; catch and allocation limits for longline-caught bigeye tuna in the US Pacific Island territories for fishing year 2020; and marine conservation plans for Guam, CNMI and the Pacific Remote Island Areas.
To participate by web conference: Go to https://wprfmc.webex.com/join/info.wpcouncilnoaa.gov. You may connect to the audio via the computer or telephone. If you use the telephone for the audio, sign into Webex via your computer first and look for the “call in” prompt to obtain the call-in instructions and a participant number.
Instructions for making public comment via Webex: Public comments will be taken at the end of each agenda section for items relevant to the applicable agenda section only. Comments on non-agenda items will be taken at 4 p.m. on March 10. To make a public comment, send a private chat message via Webex to the “host (Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council)” prior to the start of the public comment period of the applicable agenda section. Your name will be added to the public comment queue. Keep your audio connection muted until you are acknowledged by the chair to speak.
For more information on the meeting and Fishers Forum, go to www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars/ or contact the Council at info@wpcouncil.org or (808) 522-8220.
March 6, 2020 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:
The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council concluded its three-day 135th meeting today in Honolulu. Key outcomes addressed the Mariana and American Samoa Archipelago bottomfish fisheries. The Council will consider and may take action on the SSC outcomes and other issues when it meets March 10 to 12 at the YWCA Atherton Hall, 1040 Richards St., Honolulu. For more information on these meetings, including a Fishers Forum on Hawai’i fisheries the evening of March 10, go to http://www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars/ or contact the Council at info@wpcouncil.org or (808) 522-8220.
Mariana Archipelago Bottomfish Fisheries: The SSC set annual acceptable biological catches of bottomfish at 27,000 pounds in Guam and 84,000 pounds in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) for fishing years 2020-2023. The specifications are based on a 2019 stock assessment by the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC), which found bottomfish to be overfished on Guam but not in the CNMI and the fisheries in both areas to be operating at sustainable levels of catch and effort. Previous stock assessments had determined that the stocks in both areas were healthy. The acceptable biological catches reflect what can be removed while allowing the stock to reproduce at levels of maximum sustainable yield. Based on creel survey estimates, Guam’s commercial and noncommercial bottomfish fisheries landed 27,781 pounds in 2016; 22,962 pounds in 2017; and 32,751 pounds in 2018; and CNMI landed 49,570 pounds in 2016; 46,290 pounds in 2017; and 858 pounds in 2018. Next week, the Council will develop annual catch limits for the fisheries based on the acceptable biological catch levels and management uncertainties. Catch limits may be equal to or less than the acceptable biological catch specifications.
American Samoa and Mariana Archipelago Managed Bottomfish Species: The SSC considered potential alternative groupings for managed bottomfish species caught in federal waters (i.e., seaward of state waters, which are 0 to 3 miles from shore) based on available biological and fishery data and the feasibility of conducting stock assessments. Currently, the bottomfish species in each island area are grouped together as a single bottomfish complex. During discussions, it was noted that the American Samoa stock assessment focused on the heavily exploited area around Tutuila and less around the more lightly exploited areas around the offshore seamounts and the Manu’a islands due to the way the data was collected. It was also noted that careful attention should be given to the definition of a bottomfishing trip, which currently is having bottomfishing gear onboard, because hand crank and electric reels are used for bottomfishing and for trolling. The SSC recommended that the Council request PIFSC to initiate a new benchmark stock assessment and to explore other modeling approaches and data sets aside from the creel surveys and commercial receipt books. An SSC member designee will work with PIFSC and Council staff to explore the deep and shallow species groupings, trip and gear definitions, and available data sources.