Pago Pago, American Samoa is home to 12 U.S.-flagged purse seiners, each contributing to the local economy with every port call. Here, three Cape Fisheries purse seine vessels wait their turn alongside the container dock to unload their tuna catch at the StarKist Samoa cannery. Photo: Cape Fisheries.
Status of the Fisheries 2023 Western Pacific Region
the region was an increase in the total catch of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). Upticks in yellowfin tuna catch from 2022 to 2023 ranged from +2.4% in Hawai‘i pelagic fisheries to a substantial +188% increase—nearly triple— in the Guam troll fishery at 97,424 pounds. The growing influence of yellowfin tuna is evident in the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fishery, where over the past decade, slow declines in bigeye tuna landings have been offset by steady increases in yellowfin tuna landings. Other notable trends include the continued decrease in catches of mahimahi (Coryphaena hippurus) in American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI in recent years. Despite a slight increase in mahimahi catch in Hawai‘i, the pattern over time has shown persistent decline.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council provides stewardship of marine resources and promotes sustainable fisheries seaward of the state waters of Hawai‘i, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and the Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA), as well as pelagic fisheries on the open ocean in these jurisdictions. The Council’s authority over federal commercial and non-commercial (i.e., subsistence, recreational, cultural) fisheries is mandated by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA). The Council publishes annual reports as required by its five Fishery Ecosystem Plans (FEPs). This publication summarizes and highlights some of the interannual changes described in the annual reports. For the full reports, please visit www. wpcouncil.org/annual-reports. Fishery statistics can be influenced by numerous factors, including environmental changes and socioeconomic variables. In recent years, major climate events and the lingering impacts and ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic also affected regional fisheries in several ways. Some of these effects are observable in the summary trends below, in addition to recent stock statuses and management measures.
Yellowfin tuna. Photo: Shutterstock.
Fishery Trends in a Post-Pandemic World: Starting in early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had significant impacts on fishing and related industries. While many aspects of the U.S. Pacific Islands’ economies have rebounded, some effects persist as reminders of the multi-year hardships faced by regional fisheries. In Hawai‘i, for instance, commercial
Region-Wide Patterns in Pelagic Fisheries: While the performance of pelagic fisheries was mixed across the U.S. Pacific Islands in 2023, a common thread throughout
Continued on page 2
1