PACIFIC ISLANDS FISHERY NEWS Newsletter of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council / Spring 2024 ISSN 2151-2329 (PRINT) ISSN 2151-2337 (ONLINE)
Monument Expansion Area Hancock Seamount 28° 00’ N
Hōlanikū Kure Atoll Kuaihelani Midway Atoll
established to protect seamount and groundfish that had been overfished by foreign vessels
STATUS QUO
COUNCIL PROPOSAL
COMMERCIAL FISHING PROHIBITED
PROHIBIT COMMERCIAL FISHING
NOAA PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE
ALLOW NON-COMMERCIAL AND NATIVE HAWAIIAN SUBSISTENCE FISHING FOR BOTTOMFISH AND PELAGIC SPECIES UNDER CATCH LIMITS AND MSA PERMIT AND REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
SAME AS COUNCIL EXCEPT NO COST RECOVERY FOR NATIVE HAWAIIAN SUBSISTENCE PERMIT HOLDERS
NON COMMERCIAL FISHING LARGELY UNREGULATED
Manawai
N O
Kapou Lisianski Island
R T
April November 2023 2021
H W
E S
MAL
Laysan Pioneer Island Bank Kamole
Maro Reef Ralta Kamokuokamohoali‘i Bank
T
H A
Size of exclusive economic zone (EEZ), 3-200 nautical miles offshore, around Hawai'i in relation to U.S. mainland
comments and publish Final EIS and management plan • NOAA to make final decision on designation
U ZO
NE
Gardner Pinnacles
M AU Z
ON
E
Fall 2024
Summer 2024
Fall 2024/ Winter 2025
Timeline
• Transmit
• NMFS to publish Notice • NMFS to publish final Hawai‘i of Availability and response to Archipelago Proposed Rule for public public comments Fishery comment (60 days) and Final Rule Ecosystem • NMFS and Council Plan to address public Amendment comments (30 days) to NMFS
recommendation for fishery regulations under MSA
‘Ōnūnui, ‘Ōnūiki
WA
March 2024
• Council Provides final
MSA Fishing Regulations
H O ‘O
• ONMS to review public
2021 - Jan 2022)
ALLOW NATIVE HAWAIIAN SUBSISTENCE PERMIT APPLICANTS TO REQUEST FOR LIMITED COST RECOVERY OF TRIP EXPENSES THROUGH SALE
Pearl & Hermes Atoll
50 nm
• ONMS publishes Notice of • ONMS publishes proposed
NMSA Intent to designate a sanctuary DEIS and management Marine Sanctuary plan (60-day review) Sanctuary • National Public scoping meetings • Public comments due May 7, 2024 Regulations held to prepare DEIS (Nov
161° 20’ W
200 nm
PROPOSED NWHI SANCTUARY REGULATORY PROCESS
165° 00’ W
180° 00’ W
ALLOWABLE FISHING FROM 50-200 nm OPTIONS
Council - Western Pacific Fishery Management Council DEIS - Draft Environmental Impact Statement MSA - Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act NMFS - National Marine Fisheries Service NMSA - National Marine Sanctuaries Act ONMS - Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
St. Rogatien Bank
I I A
N
I S
L A
N D
Mokumanamana Lalo Necker Island French Frigate Shoals
S
( N
W
H I
Twin Banks
Nihoa
M A I N
H AW
A I
Kaua‘i
I A
N
O‘ahu
)
I S
LA
Moloka‘i
Ni‘ihau
N
Maui Lāna‘i Kaho‘olawe
wpcouncil.org
Hawai‘i Nautical Miles
Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (0-50 nautical miles offshore) No commercial fishing • no non-commercial fishing • sustenance fishing is allowed.
Adapting Amidst Challenges:
Insights from the 198th WPRFMC Meeting Amidst mounting concerns, the voices of frustrated fishing community advisors repeatedly called for urgent action to be taken by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. The large roomful of Council advisors were meeting in Honolulu for the first time in six years, at the 198th interagency gathering held March 18-20, 2024. Representatives from American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) and all parts of Hawai‘i, highlighted the dire challenges facing not only the regional fishing industry, but entire island communities. Critical status reports and forecasts had everyone concerned, along
with their escalating anxieties over the increasing number of fishing area closures, and the destabilizing impact of foreign seafood imports on market dynamics. Hawai‘i Advisory Panel (AP) member and Kaua‘i fisherman Abraham Apilado, Jr. said, “If the goal is to sustain fisheries, major changes need to be made today. If the goal is to kill off the fishermen and resources, then keep doing what you’re doing, because you’re doing an amazing job.” The United States is proposing to overlay and extend the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
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