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Status of CNMI bottomfish to be reviewed this week
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee will convene on Oct. 14 to 16 in Honolulu to review management measures for U.S. Pacific Island Fisheries.
On the U.S. Pacific Territory bottomfish, the SSC will review the status of CNMI bottomfish fisheries as well as that of American Samoa and Guam and specify their acceptable biological catches, or ABCs, for 2015.
The ABCs are used to develop the 2015 annual catch limits for the fisheries.
The annual limit in pounds for CNMI bottomfish was set at 228,000 lbs, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service, whose members serve on the committee.
Dr. Todd Miller of the CNMI’s Division of Fish and Wildlife also serves in the SSC, and Manny Pangelinan, acting secretary of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, serves as council chair.
Another major agenda is the Western and Central Pacific’s North Pacific striped marlin. NMFS recently announced that the marlin is in an overfished condition.
Another item is the Hawaii yellowfin and bigeye tuna. The yellowfin tuna stock is considered biologically health. The SSC will consider options for minimum size of yellowfin and bigeye tuna for commercial fisheries operating in federal waters around Hawaii.
