HONOLULU — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council concluded its three-day 161st meeting Thursday in Honolulu and made several recommendations to National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)  regarding international management of tuna and other migratory pelagic species in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO).

The Council urged NMFS, as the head of the US delegation to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), to be strong in its support of the Hawai`i and American Samoa longline and other US fisheries. The WCPFC is scheduled to meet Dec. 1 to 5, 2014, in Apia, Samoa. The Council recommended that the US Delegation advocate for the following at that meeting:  

·                 To address overfishing of bigeye tuna in the WCPO: a) An amendment to conservation and management measure (CMM) 2013-01 to make measures applicable to purse-seine vessels more effective in reducing juvenile catches; this would include full purse-seine closure periods and purse-seine bigeye catch limits or purse-seine set limits on fish aggregation devices commensurate with 2010 levels; and b) No further reductions to the US longline bigeye catch limit, because catch quotas on the longline fishery sector have been reduced substantially since 2008, whereas purse-seine bigeye catch has steadily increased.
 

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·                To address the overfishing and overfished condition of North Pacific striped marlin in the WCPO: a) Development of CMMs that will end overfishing and lead to stock recovery, such as fishing at a constant catch of 3,600 metric tons (mt) as noted in the 2012 stock assessment, and b) measures that establish limits of not more than 500 mt for any Commission members and Participating Territories with a history of catching less than 500 mt of striped marlin.

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·                 South Pacific albacore management: A more effective and comprehensive CMM for the species.

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Regarding domestic measures for these species, the Council made the following recommendations, among others:

·                Bigeye tuna: a) Realignment of the bigeye assessments to reflect the biology of bigeye and the spatial distribution of the fisheries and tag recaptures. In particular, tag recaptures around Hawai`i could be used to distinguish a sub-region encompassing the extent of the Hawai`i longline fishery; b) Analyses for the specification of 2015 Territory longline bigeye limits including catch and allocation limits.

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·                North Pacific striped marlin: Establishment of an overall limit of 457 mt and a limit of 434 mt of striped marlin applicable to the Hawai`i longline fishery (i.e., 95 percent of the 457 mt limit). In the event that the 434 mt limit is reached, the Hawai`i longline fishery would not be allowed to retain striped marlin. There were no striped marlin restrictions recommended for other Hawai`i fisheries (e.g., troll and handline), which account for less than 5 percent of total commercial striped marlin catch.

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·                South Pacific albacore: Initial action to establish a provisional longline South Pacific albacore limit of 5,418 mt applicable to the US exclusive economic zone around American Samoa.

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Among other actions taken by the Council are the following.

·                2015 ACLs for bottomfish fishery in American Samoa, Guam and CNMI: The Council recommended ACLs of 101,000 pounds, 66,800 pounds and 228,000 pounds, respectively. These are the same ACLs as 2014. The Council noted that the catch comprised a small proportion of the existing limit, there was no significant change in the fishery or the management of this fishery and there is no new scientific information to change the existing limits. A new assessment is scheduled for 2015.
 

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·                Coral reef fish, crustacean and MHI non-Deep 7 bottomfish: The Council modified the ACL for Siganidae (rabbit fish) in American Samoa and Guam for 2014. The ACL in American Samoa increased from 163 to 200 pounds, while the ACL for rabbit fish in Guam dropped from 19,200 to 18,600 pounds.

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·                The Council maintained its previous recommendation of 346,000 pounds for the 2014-2015 annual catch limit (ACL) for main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) Deep 7 bottomfish.  

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(Source: Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council media release)