Pacific Fisheries
Fishery Managers Use Ecosystem-Based Approach
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
Fishery Managers use Ecosystem-Based Approach
For Pacific Islanders, the ocean’s abundant resources sustain and nurture their island economies and cultures. Islanders also share their ocean’s abundance with numerous species of seabirds, sea turtles, seals, and other marine mammals. Many of them, such as the leatherback, olive ridley and loggerhead sea turtles are not year-round island residents, but migrate each year to and from feeding grounds and nesting beaches throughout the Pacific. For those who manage the Pacific’s vast fisheries, caring for marine animal species -- whether permanent residents or migratory visitors -- and their habitats is an important part of sustaining the ocean’s resources for Pacific peoples.
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In the last decade, international recognition has been growing to address the issue of reducing the unintentional hooking or entanglement of protected animal species, such as seabirds and sea turtles. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (the Council) has been at the forefront of developing cooperative solutions to this critical international problem through discussions with scientists, fishermen, environmental organizations and island communities.
Two international workshops, spearheaded by the Council, brought together experts from throughout the Pacific to develop innovative solutions and coordinated methods to address these important common concerns. The first workshop in 1998, a review of the impact of the Hawaii-based longline fishery on the incidental catch of black-footed albatross, resulted in the creation of the North Pacific Albatross Working Group, an international cross-section of experts to monitor this issue. In February 2002, the Council focused on a regional approach to help recover depleted Pacific sea turtle populations, by hosting a sea turtle research and management workshop to coordinate research, identify missing information, build consensus and promote international partnerships.
These international workshops exemplify the Council’s historical commitment to protecting non-targeted species from being harmed by fishing practices. The Council was the first in the nation to ban drift gillnet fishing in the exclusive economic zone, which indiscriminately entraps dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, seals and other marine life. They were the first to ban trawling, a non-selective fishing method that can quickly deplete bottom dwelling species and destroy their habitat. In 1991, the Council also created a Protected Species Zone that prohibits longline fishing within 50 nautical miles of the islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to protect Hawaiian monk seals and juvenile swordfish. These uninhabited islands extend 1,200 miles northwest of the main Hawaiian Islands.
A strong advocate for consensus decision-making, the Council has long recognized the importance and wisdom of developing solutions with input from a wide variety of concerned parties on the issue. The Hawaii longline fishery is currently banned from targeting swordfish from the equator to the North Pole, and fishing in 1.9 million square miles south of Hawaii in April and May. This action was the result of concerns about longline bycatch of endangered sea turtles. The Hawaii longline fishery, however, accounts for less than 1 percent of the fishing effort in the Pacific. Since market demand still exists for the species in the U.S., swordfish sold in the U.S. market is now being supplied by foreign fleets that may kill as much as 950 times more sea turtles per ton of swordfish than the Hawaii fleet. This well-intentioned court action, targeting only a domestic fleet, may actually turn out to be detrimental to sea turtles.
The Council has proposed that, instead of the ban on swordfish fishing, the fishing industry work with scientists and fishermen to develop fishing gears and methods that can be used by domestic as well as foreign longline fleets to reduce the worldwide catch of sea turtles. A similar approach, taken in the Eastern Pacific purse seine fishery, resulted in outstanding success for both fishermen and marine animal species. Gear modifications there dramatically reduced interactions with dolphins, from hundreds of thousands of animals involved per year to only a few thousand, and resulted in the “dolphin safe” label on tuna cans.
| Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council |
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The Council is the policy-making organization for the management of fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ, generally 3 - 200 miles from shore) around the Territory of American Samoa, Territory of Guam, State of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Pacific island possessions – an area of nearly 1.5 million square miles. The Council is tasked with maintaining opportunities for domestic fishing while preventing adverse impacts to stocks, habitat, protected species and ecosystem resources. |
The Council continues to be a pioneer in seeking cooperative global solutions to reduce interactions with protected species. Most recently, the Council partnered with environmental groups, the longline fishing industry and the government to test a 27-foot long underwater setting chute to minimize interactions with seabirds in Hawaii. Instead of setting baited hooks on the surface of the water, thus enticing albatross and other seabirds to swoop down after the bait and risk being hooked or entangled, the chute delivers the baited hooks underwater, where they emerge out of sight and reach of the diving seabirds. By demonstrating the chute’s potential to virtually eliminate the incidental catch of seabirds, scientists, fishermen, environmentalists and government regulators are excited about the device’s implications for use in other longline fisheries throughout the world. The Council is especially pleased with the timeliness of the chute’s development, as the Second International Fishers Forum, scheduled for November 19-22, 2002 in Honolulu, will bring together fishermen from all over the world to focus on reducing the catch of seabirds and sea turtles in longline fisheries.
Hawaii-based Longline Fishery's Methods to Save Seabirds and Sea Turtles
A protected species workshop is required for vessel captains, to teach migration, handling and release techniques. |
The Council is the policy-making organization for the management of fisheries in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ, generally 3 - 200 miles from shore) around the Territory of American Samoa, Territory of Guam, State of Hawaii, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Pacific island possessions – an area of nearly 1.5 million square miles. The Council is tasked with maintaining opportunities for domestic fishing while preventing adverse impacts to stocks, habitat, protected species and ecosystem resources.
Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
1164 Bishop St Suite 1400
Honolulu HI 96813 USA
Tel: (808) 522-8220
Fax: (808) 522-8226
Website: www.wpcouncil.org
