Pacific Magazine > Daily News
Fisheries Council Set To Lift Hawaii Bottom Fishing Ban
Friday: October 10, 2008
(Western Pacific Fishery Management Council)
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will convene Oct. 14 to 17, 2008, to address management of offshore fisheries in the U.S. Pacific islands, including
the annual catch level of bottomfish that can be harvested from waters surrounding the main Hawaiian Islands.
The main Hawaiian Islands bottomfish fishery has been closed since April 2008 and is scheduled to reopen on Nov. 15, 2008. In making its decisions, the Council will review recommendations of its advisory groups, including the Scientific and Statistical Committee, which is meeting this week in Honolulu. The Council will also consider public testimony on this subject to be taken at the Fishers Forum, 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 15, 2008, at the Pagoda Hotel as well as during the Council meeting. Council decisions are transmitted to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce for approval.
The main Hawaiian Islands bottomfish fishery is currently closed as a means to end “overfishing” of bottomfish in the Hawaiian Islands. The overfishing determination was made by the Secretary of Commerce in 2006 based on analysis of the fishery by the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. The analysis determined that overfishing of the stock throughout the archipelago (including the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) was occurring because of excessive fishing pressure in the main Hawaiian Islands.
The main Hawaiian Islands fishery was scheduled to reopen in September 2008 under a total allowable catch (TAC) limit. However, under recommendation by the Council in June 2008, the closure was extended to Nov. 15 to allow Fisheries Science Center time to complete an updated assessment of the Hawaii bottomfish stock, which is needed to determine the appropriate TAC.
During this latest assessment, Fisheries Science Center addressed concerns from fishermen and others about the analysis that led to the overfishing determination. The Center conducted in-depth interviews with bottomfish fishermen and convened a workshop with scientists from the Council and the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources. The workshop, informed by the fishermen interviews, allowed the Center to standardize the bottomfish catch data that has been collected on the fishery since 1948.
The Center then generated a computer model using the refined data to provide a more accurate and up-to-date assessment of the stock. This assessment indicates that, contrary to earlier conclusions, overfishing of bottomfish is not occurring in the Hawaiian archipelago. However, it confirms previous findings that the main Hawaiian Islands segment of the archipelagic stock is experiencing localized depletion.
At the Science and Statistical Committee meeting yesterday, the Center presented the findings from the fishermen interviews and the data standardization workshop, as well as
the completed stock assessment and an analysis of the risk of overfishing at various TAC levels. The Committee is expected to make a recommendation on main Hawaiian Islands bottomfish management and the new stock assessment when it concludes its three-day meeting tomorrow.
Other major issues to be discussed during next week’s Council meeting and for which the Council may take action include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Measures for annual catch limits;
- Hawaii shallow-set longline fishery;
- Sea turtles interactions with the American Samoa longline fishery;
- Pelagic fishing vessel marking requirements for high seas operations; and
- Fishing on fish aggregation devices in US exclusive economic zone waters in the Western Pacific Region.
Complete agendas for the meeting and additional information on the topics may be found at the Council’s website at www.wpcouncil.org or by contacting the Council by phone (808) 522-8220, fax (808) 522-8226 (fax), or email info.wpcouncil@noaa.gov.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is the policy-making agency for fisheries management in offshore waters around the U.S. Pacific Islands.
