Scientists discuss NMI’s bottomfish management

The Scientific and Statistical Committee, comprising scientists from throughout the United States and the Pacific, including the CNMI, convened in Honolulu beginning yesterday to discuss fishery management issues in the US Pacific Islands. The discussion will go on until tomorrow, Thursday.

Among the several topics on the agenda is bottomfish management for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. This arises from the public scooping sessions held in the CNMI last fall by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to discuss additional management options for the bottomfish fishery. The committee will discuss a range of alternatives, including federal permitting and reporting, sales reporting, vessel monitoring systems, vessel size limits, gear restrictions, area closures, and limited access restrictions. The committee will be asked to review the alternatives and provide recommendations.

Other items on the agenda include archipelagic fishery ecosystem plans, sea turtle management, seabird mitigation, pelagic squid management, and Northern Hawaiian Islands lobster population model, among others.

At its last meeting, the Council voted to develop archipelagic management plans that will address marine resource issues on an ecosystem basis. Under this approach, the current fishery management plans for bottomfish, precious corals, crustacean and coral reef ecosystems would be rewritten so that these insular resources would be managed together under ecosystem management plans. These plans would be regionally based, with the Mariana Island Archipelago (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands), the Hawaii Archipelago (Main Hawaiian Islands and the Northwestern Hawaiian islands and possibly Johnston Atoll), and the Samoa Archipelago comprising separate regions. The committee will comment and provide guidance on the development of these archipelagic ecosystem-based FMPs.

Following the recent implementation of an environmentally responsible swordfish fishery for Hawaii-based longline vessels, several additional sea turtle conservation measures are also being considered for other fisheries. The committee will review a regulatory amendment to the Pelagics FMP that would require all small boat operators using hooks to fish for pelagic species to follow certain handling procedures if they hook or entangle a sea turtle. It would also require longline vessels based in American Samoa, Guam or the CNMI to use the same turtle mitigation gear required on Hawaii vessels when fishing north of the equator. The Council will be taking final action on this item at its 123rd meeting on June 21-24, 2004.

On seabird mitigation, the committee will discuss adding to current longline requirements for seabird mitigation gear to include side setting (the longline is set from the side of the vessel rather than the stern), using an underwater setting chute or towing seabird deterrents. The Council is expected to take initial action at the 123rd Council meeting to select a preliminary preferred alternative.

On pelagic squid management, a domestic squid jigging operation comprised of four vessels fishes sporadically in the Western Pacific region. Although no resource concerns have arisen to date, current monitoring systems are inadequate and there are no mechanisms in place to implement management measures if concerns do arise. The SSC will review alternatives that would establish appropriate monitoring and management mechanisms.

The Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center is also developing a population model designed to assess the status of the lobster stocks in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. It uses data collected since 1983, which includes pre-commercial fishery data, data from the commercial lobster fishery, research survey data, and tagging data. The model was originally developed for use in assessing tuna stocks but has wide applicability for other resources, including lobsters. The SSC will discussion the use of this model for NWHI lobster stocks.

Other agenda items include shark management: options for yellowfin and bigeye management in the Pacific; longline-marine mammal interactions; precious coral research; and a lobster stock assessment in the main Hawaiian Islands.

The Council is the policy-making agency for fisheries management in federal waters (3-200 miles offshore) around American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Hawaii, and the U.S. Pacific Islands possessions—an area of nearly 1.5 million square miles. For more information on these or other items, contact the Council at 522-8220, e-mail info.wpcouncil@noaa.gov or log on to the Council’s website at www.wpcouncil.org.