Previous Story
Fishery scientists criticize sanctuary plan
|
Posted on Oct 12 2004
Scientists that compose the policymaking agency for fisheries management in the Pacific’s federal waters criticized a plan to create a marine sanctuary in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, saying there is no scientific evidence that current fishing levels negatively impact on coral reefs.
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s jurisdiction encompasses three to 200 miles offshore around the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii, and Pacific Island possessions—an area of nearly 1.5 million square miles.
The council’s scientific and statistical committee voiced its position in a media release, disclosing that scientists that comprise the committee met sometime last week.
The National Marine Sanctuaries Program had recommended that all fishing activity be stopped in different zones within the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, including targeting of pelagic fish that are not associated with coral reefs, the committee said.
“This sanctuary document simply does not provide any credible scientific evidence that the existing levels of commercial fishing in the NWHI are having any detrimental impact on coral reefs,” committee chair Dr. Paul Callaghan stated in the media release.
The committee criticized the NMSP’s plan that reportedly requires commercial fisheries to prove that activities do not affect the integrity of the ecosystem.
“The proof is not required by the National Marine Sanctuaries Act or contained in the stated goals and objectives for the NWHI sanctuary,” the media release stated.
It said the NMSP report gives preference to recreational and sustenance fishing compared to commercial fishing, although both involve fish mortality.
