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Senate ratification of fishery treaty applauded
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Posted on Nov 24 2005
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is very pleased by the U.S. Senate ratification on Thursday of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, also known as the WCPF Convention (Treaty Doc 109-1).
This treaty to ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of tuna, marlin, swordfish and other high migratory fish stocks in the central and western Pacific was adopted by fishing nations throughout the Pacific on Sept. 4, 2000, in Honolulu. The adoption of the convention was a culmination of five years of long negotiations on some very difficult issues, which began in December 1994. It reflects a balance of interests, in particular between developing Pacific countries, in whose national areas larges stocks of tuna fish are found, and distant-water fishing states, which fish in the Central and Western Pacific.
The treaty established the international Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), headquartered in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia. The second meeting of the Commission is scheduled for Dec. 12-16, 2005 in Pohnpei.
“The treaty will have an impact on several U.S. fisheries in the Pacific, including approximately 175 tuna and swordfish longline vessels based in Hawaii and American Samoa, approximately 400 albacore troll vessels based primarily on the West Coast and 14 tuna purse-seine vessels that offload in American Samoa,” notes Kitty M. Simonds, executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. “One of the key concerns for U.S. fisheries is ensuring that we diligently record our commercial and recreational catch data as the Commission is expected to establish national quotas for tuna and other migratory stocks based on historical records.” Currently, catch reports are not required for recreational fisheries in the U.S. Pacific Islands. (PR)
