No need to federalize protection of Northern Islands

As both Council members and indigenous islanders from the Mariana archipelago, we felt we should weigh in to correct some of the nonsense peddled in the local media about the Western Pacific Council or WESPAC by the Pew Charitable Trusts Environment Group representatives. Further, we support whatever the decision the governor and Legislature choose to make regarding the Pew monument. We also note that the Covenant between the United States and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas includes the Northern Islands as sanctuaries. This should be respected and indicate that there is no need for the federal government to federalize the protection of these islands.

WESPAC has managed fisheries in this region in a sustainable and responsible manner for the past thirty years. It was the first Council to ban trawl gear and the use of drift gillnets within the U.S. EEZ, long before they became fashionable targets for environmental groups like the Pew. The Council was also among the first Councils to develop large scale area closures to allocate fishery resources or to provide protection for protected and sensitive species. WESPAC was the first in the U.S., possibly the world, to use satellite-based vessel monitoring systems to police these area closures. WESPAC was the first to develop an ecosystem-based coral reef fishery management plan and the first to transform its other fishery plans into place-based ecosystem plans, which are designed to provide local communities with a voice in the fishery management process.

Some of the recent negative correspondence about WESPAC has questioned the science behind the longline swordfish fishery management in Hawaii using circle hooks and fish bait. WESPAC has achieved what was at one time considered unrealistic, a successful environmentally responsible way of shallow set longline fishing, which has resulted in a 90-percent reduction in sea turtle interactions and reduced seabird takes from thousands to a few dozen. So successful has this been that to date in 2008 no loggerhead turtles have been taken by the fishery, despite increasing loggerhead nesting abundance in Japan for the past decade. Little wonder then that the rest of the Pacific looks to the Hawaii fishery and to WESPAC on how to implement this type of successful longline fishery management

In the Mariana archipelago, as long ago as 1992, WESPAC implemented an area closure around Guam that extends at a minimum 50 miles to the east and west and nearly 100 miles to the South to protect troll fisheries. A complementary longline area closure of 30 miles around the CNMI was also recently voted on by WESPAC. The smaller closure is designed to allocate near shore resources to trollers, without stifling development of the new longline fishery based out of Saipan and Rota. WESPAC has also recently voted to prohibit purse seine fishing by any nation, including the U.S., in the U.S. EEZ around the entire Mariana archipelago. Similarly, WESPAC has designated a 50 nautical mile closure around Guam which is closed to bottomfish vessels larger than 50 ft, to protect smaller scale bottomfish fishers. A similar measure for the CNMI southern islands is in review with the National Marine Fisheries Service.

We hope that this limited account of WESPAC’s commitment to science-based responsible fisheries management will balance the deliberate attempts of the Pew Group and their cohorts to smear WESPAC’s reputation. Folks wanting a more balanced perspective on Council activities and programs should browse the Council’s web site at www.wpcouncil.org.