Honolulu, HI — The 208th meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Council) will convene by web conference (Webex) on September 15-17, 2026.

Summary of Action Items at the 208th Council Meeting

    •    Options for Amending the Large Vessel Prohibited Area in American Samoa (Final Action)

On June 11, 2026, President Trump signed Proclamation 11035, “Restoring American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific.” This Proclamation mirrored the Council’s 206th meeting recommendation to remove the fishing prohibitions within the Rose Atoll Marine National Monument from 12-50 nm. While the NMFS works on the details to implement the proclamation, the Council may be faced with additional barriers to fishing in this same area.

At its 206th meeting in March 2026, the Council took final action recommending that commercial fishing prohibitions be lifted in portions of several Pacific marine national monuments, including a recommendation to open the 12–50 nm zone at Rose Atoll to commercial fishing, subject to existing federal permit, reporting, gear, catch limit, and protected species requirements. However, existing regulations implemented under the MSA and under the Council's Pelagic FEP may still prohibit commercial fishing in the waters around Muliava through the American Samoa large vessel prohibited area (LVPA), which prohibits vessels 50 ft and greater from fishing within 50 nm seaward of Rose Atoll (and other parts of American Samoa). In order to abide by the proclamation, the Council may consider options for modifying commercial fishing access within the LVPA.

The Large Vessel Prohibited Area (LVPA) was established in 2002 through a regulatory amendment under the Pelagic FEP to reduce competition of large (greater than 50 feet length) longline vessels with small-scale domestic fisheries, including longline vessels under 50 feet length and trolling vessels. Concerned that the LVPA might be unnecessarily reducing the efficiency of the larger American Samoa longline vessels by displacing the fleet from a part of their historical fishing grounds and given the lack of direct high seas access from the U.S. EEZ around American Samoa, the Council began exploring ways to assist the longline fishery, while ensuring conservation of affected stocks and minimizing impacts to other fisheries. To address current and recent fishery conditions, the Council recommended in 2015 that NMFS provide a limited exemption from the LVPA based on vessel size, and allow federally permitted
U.S. longline vessels 50 ft and longer to fish in portions of the LVPA, and NMFS
implemented the exemption effective January 2016 (81 FR 5619). That action allowed large U.S. vessels that hold a federal American Samoa longline limited entry permit to fish within the LVPA to within about 12-17 nm from shore around Swains Island, Tutuila, and the Manua Islands. Large vessels continued to be restricted from fishing within the remaining portions of the LVPA, including Rose Atoll.
    •    Options are being proposed for Council consideration to meet Proclamation 11035 and to ensure sustainable harvests of fishery resources by amending fishing regulations to provide commercial fishing access within 12–50 nm around Muliava (Rose Atoll). Under each of the options, the LVPA would continue to apply in the existing areas of American Samoa that are not part of the area around Muliava and fisheries would continue to be monitored and regulated through the existing regulations. The options for the Council to consider would include 1) No Action, 2) Providing a Rose Atoll exemption, and 3) Reducing the LVPA.

Option 1: No Action (Status Quo): Under Option 1, current regulations would remain in effect. The Council at the 206th meeting in March 2026 recommended authorizing commercial fishing throughout the 12–50 nm zone under the Pelagic FEP implementing regulations for Rose Atoll Marine National Monument (50 CFR 665.962), and the Executive Proclamation 11035, June 11, 2026, directed the restoration of commercial fishing in those monument waters. However, this area remains closed to large vessels due to the LVPA established under the Pelagic FEP in 2002 (50 CFR 665.806(b)).

Limited commercial, non-commercial and recreational charter fishing would continue to be available only to American Samoa residents and permitted charter operators under the existing permit system. Vessels under 50 feet, including traditional alia, would be able to commercially fish in the area under this no action option due to the previous recommendation, for all regulated species.

Option 2: Amend the regulations implementing the Pacific Pelagic FEP to include Rose Atoll as part of the vessel size exemption to the LVPA: Under Option 2, the implementing regulations for the Pacific Pelagic FEP would be amended to include an additional exemption area from 12-50 nm around Muliava for large-vessel American Samoa Longline Limited Entry permit holders. Vessels greater than 50 feet would be allowed to fish in the LVPA from 12–50 nm around Rose Atoll. The area of the LVPA from 0-12 nm around Muliava would continue to be off-limits to fishing by AS longline limited entry large-vessel permit holders.

Option 3: Reduce the LVPA around Muliava to 0-12 nm: Under Option 3, the implementing regulations under the Pacific Pelagic FEP would be amended to reduce the Large Vessel Prohibited Area as around Muliava to 0-12 nm. This would open commercial fishing to all U.S. fishing vessels (longline and purse seine) that hold the applicable federal fishery permits (e.g., American Samoa longline limited entry permit, or other applicable Western Pacific pelagics permits, U.S. purse seine) outside of 12 nm around Muliava. Fishing in this area would be restricted to the existing regulations under the American Samoa and Pacific Pelagic FEPs.

    •    Revising the American Samoa Longline Fishery Sea Turtle Measures

The ASLL fishery is required to follow a longline gear configuration aimed at setting hooks deeper than 100 meters to reduce interactions with green sea turtles. Specifically, the fishery is required to use float lines (line between floats and the suspended horizontal mainline) at least 30 meters in length, have a minimum of 15 branch lines between any two floats, and requires that the distance from each float to adjacent branch lines be at least 70 meters. This measure was implemented in 2011 under Amendment 5 to the Pelagic FEP, and developed in response to a request from the
NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office to reduce green sea turtle interactions in the ASLL fishery in advance of reinitiating consultation under ESA Section 7.

Since the implementation of this measure, the Council has requested that the NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) conduct an evaluation to determine whether it has been effective. PIFSC has declined on the basis that there are too few sea turtle interactions to conduct a robust analysis to statistically evaluate the effect.
This measure has also been difficult to enforce as there is no practical way to measure the 70-meter distance from the float to the first branch line once the gear is deployed, and this specification cannot be enforced through dockside inspections. ASLL vessels use a line setting device (or line shooter) to deploy the mainline at consistent speed throughout the setting, which allows crew to adjust the distance between the float line and the first branch line using the time it takes for the line shooter to deploy 70 meters of mainline, which is approximately 17-18 seconds.

The ASLL fishery is experiencing economic hardship due to high costs, low catch rates of the target species (albacore tuna) and foreign competition. Restrictions on gear configuration limits flexibility for the industry in making adjustments according to oceanographic conditions or catch rates, and may be suppressing operational efficiency.

In response to the Seafood EO, the Council identified the removal of the ASLL sea turtle measure as a medium priority action for reducing burdens on domestic fishing. NMFS in July 2026 announced this action as one of the three high priority actions for the Western Pacific region. The Council at the 208th meeting will consider an options paper for determining the scope of Council action associated with modifying these ASLL sea turtle mitigation measures.

In addition, the Council will review the options and consider final action to amend the American Samoa LVPA regulations under the Pacific Pelagic FEP.

    The Council’s Pelagic Plan Team Working Group conducted a review of fishery performance under the trip limits with data through the 2022-2023 fishing season, and concluded that additional years of monitoring is warranted before the Council considers any revisions to the trip limits. The Council at the 199th meeting in June 2024 endorsed the Pelagic Plan Team Working Group report and directed the Pelagic Plan Team to conduct the next review in 2-3 years, pending update of the loggerhead turtle population model. The Council further requested NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office to continue to maintain 100% observer coverage for the shallow-set longline fishery to allow for a robust evaluation.

In response to the Seafood EO, the Council identified the removal of the SSLL leatherback turtle hard cap and the “strike two” provision of the SSLL trip limit measure as high priority actions for reducing burdens on domestic fishing. The Council at the 208th meeting will consider an options paper for determining the scope of Council action associated with modifying these SSLL sea turtle mitigation measures. The Council will review the following range of preliminary options and associated considerations:Option     Option 1: Status Quo/No Action
    Option 2: Remove the “Strike Two” Provision from the Trip Limit Measure
    Option 3: Remove the Trip Limit Measure
    Option 4: Remove the Leatherback Turtle Hard Cap

    •    Revising the Swordfish Retention Limit in the Hawaii Deep-Set Longline Fishery

The Hawaii deep-set longline swordfish retention limit caps the number of swordfish a vessel may possess or land on an unobserved deep-set trip north of the Equator: 25 fish with circle hooks, 10 fish with other hooks, no limit with an observer aboard. This measure was originally implemented in 2002 through an emergency interim rule and later made permanent in 2004 to limit swordfish retention to 10 swordfish per trip. The measure was later modified through Regulatory Amendment 1 to the Pelagic FEP in 2012 to provide a higher limit of 25 swordfish when using circle hooks and without an observer, and no limit with an observer on board. The average catch of swordfish per deep-set trip since then has been less than 3 swordfish per trip. At-sea discards of swordfish in the deep-set sector is 2.7%, with discards likely due to catch conditions.

In response to the Seafood EO, the Council identified the removal of the Hawaii deep-set swordfish trip limit as a candidate for regulatory reduction. In July 2026, NMFS announced this as one of the three high priority actions for the Western Pacific region. The Council, at its 208th Meeting, may consider: 1) retaining the status quo; or 2) removing the limit entirely, consistent with the 2020 removal of the parallel limit in the American Samoa longline fishery.

    •    Annual Catch Limit Specifications for American Samoa BMUS for 2027-2030 (Initial Action)

The Council will consider specifying multi-year harvest limits for the American Samoa bottomfish management unit species (BMUS) for fishing years 2027-2030. Currently, there are 11 BMUS in American Samoa: eight snappers, one emperor, one jack, and one grouper. At its 202nd meeting, the Council took final action to revise the American Samoa BMUS list to six species, including the giant palu-malau (Etelis boweni). To date, the proposed and final rules for the revised BMUS list have not been published, and to comply with the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) and the American Samoa FEP, this proposed action may specify annual catch limits (ACLs) for the 11 BMUS.

Working Groups and the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) evaluated the scientific, social, ecological, economic, and management uncertainties and recommended a risk level to the Council. The risk of overfishing informs the Council’s consideration of ACL specification, and the management uncertainty informs the Council’s consideration in setting the annual catch target (ACT).

At its 208th meeting, the Council will review the following alternatives and consider taking initial action to specify harvest limits and the accountability measures that will prevent the fishery from overfishing the stock.
    •    No Action. No harvest limits will be specified for fishing years 2027-2030.

    •    Specify ACLs for the current BMUS list utilizing the 2023 and 2026 stock assessments based on the councils P (Risk of Overfishing) and SEEM (Social, Economic, Ecological and Management Uncertainty).

    •    Specify ACLs for the current BMUS list utilizing the 2023 and 2026 stock assessments lower than the P (Risk of Overfishing) and SEEM (Social, Economic, Ecological and Management Uncertainty) analysis.
The following venues will be host sites for the 208th Council meeting: Council office, 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400, Honolulu, Hawaii
Tedi of Samoa Building Suite 208B, Fagatogo Village, American Samoa Cliff Pointe, 304 W. O'Brien Drive, Hagatna, Guam
BRI Building Suite 205, Kopa Di Oru St. Garapan, Saipan, CNMI

The Webex link is https://tinyurl.com/208CouncilMtg (if prompted, enter event number: 2861 417 6739; password: CM208mtg). Specific information on joining the meeting, instructions for connecting to the Webex and providing oral public comments during the meeting will be posted on the Council website at: www.wpcouncil.org/event/ 208th-council-meeting

    The Council will consider and may take action on the issues summarized above, including any public comments on them. Written public comments on final action items should be received by the Council’s executive director by 5 p.m. (HST), Thursday, September 10, 2026, via postal mail, fax or email as indicated below.

Mail: Ms. Kitty M. Simonds, Executive Director

Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400 Honolulu, HI 96813
FAX: (808) 522-8226

E-mail: info@wpcouncil.org