Category Archives: Western Pacific
Oahu fishing vessel master pleads guilty, sentenced for sleeping while ship underway
Oahu resident Kevin Lam pleaded guilty to eight charges of operating a commercial fishing vessel in a grossly negligent manner on Friday and received a sentence of one-year probation and 60 hours of community service from Magistrate Judge Barry M. Kurren. Read the rest here 10:37
Kiribati tightens control over fishing waters
Kiribati’s decision to greatly restrict the number of fishing days US vessels has sent shockwaves across the Pacific.Kiribati will provide under a new fisheries treaty, down from thousands of days in previous years. Audio report here 07:42
Pacific nations agree to historic tuna fishery pact to protect local industries
Officials from the Pacific Forum Fishery Agency (FFA) countries, meeting in Solomon Islands, have agreed on the text for a framework for managing the fishery, known as the Tokelau Arrangement for the Management of the South Pacific Longline Fishery. The meeting’s chair and Samoa’s ministry of agriculture and fisheries assistant chief executive, Joyce Samuelu Ah Leong, said catch limits will be set. Read the rest here 16:21
American Samoa: Collision at the main dock causes oil spill, Crewman hurt
A major oil spill occurred at the main dock after a purse seiner struck the bow of another purse seiner before 8 this morning (Thursday) . Harbor Master Silila Patane reports that the Captain Vincent Gann had engine problems when it came into dock and the captain had difficulty controlling the vessel. Read the rest here 21:27
WPRFMC Press Release, October 16, 2014 – Fishers Forum on Hawai`i Yellowfin and North Pacific Striped Marlin Management
HONOLULU (16 October 2014) The public is invited to attend the Fishers Forum on Hawai`i yellowfin tuna and North Pacific striped marlin and view a sneak preview of ‘Ahi—The Yellowfin Tuna. This short documentary focuses on the importance of the species and research on the local stock that may have important management implications. Read the press release here 22:54
Kiribati deal shocks fishing world – US Tuna Fleet Forced Out – Chinese and Taiwanese boats take over
A tiny South Pacific nation has shocked the fishing world by revealing without warning that it has forced most of the American tuna fleet out of its vast waters and is letting Chinese and Taiwanese boats take over. Earlier this week governments of the 17 members of the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency, which included New Zealand and Kiribati, and the United States had settled a tuna deal in Pacific waters for 2015. Read the rest here 17:48
The Fall 2014 issue of the Pacific Islands Fishery Newsletter is here!…
Issues and articles pertaining to the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, and region. Obama’s Proclamation, Pacific Bigeye Tuna Movement and Distribution Workshop, Striped Marlin, Catch Limits for 110 Species Complexes, and more. Read the E magazine here 21:32
Pacific Island nations secure $90m tuna deal with United States
Pacific Island countries and the United States have reached a $90 million tuna deal, which is believed to be the world’s most lucrative fishing access agreement. The deal was secured in the final minutes of a three-day negotiating session in Hawaii. Under the agreement,,, Read more here 07:12
NOAA grant to help Hawaii girls learn about water
HONOLULU (AP) – A grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will help girls in Hawaii understand how water and the environment impact each other. Girls Scouts of Hawaii announced Monday the organization received a $92,000 grant from NOAA for a program called Wonders of Water Read the rest here 20:26
Fishermen get a Fair Shake, Opposition whines – Championing Ocean Conservation Or Paying Lip Service to the Seas?
President Barack Obama this week extended the no-fishing areas around three remote pacific islands, eliciting praise from some, and disappointment from those who fear the move did not go far enough towards helping depleted species of fish recover. “We missed a unique opportunity to do something important for the oceans,” said Doug McCauley, a marine ecologist at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Ingrate Read the rest here 18:07
Western Pacific Fishery Management Council Responds to the President’s Pacific Monument Expansion Decision
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) acknowledges that the President’s amended Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument (PRIMNM) expansion plan reduces the economic toll the original plan would have taken on sustainable US Pacific Island fisheries. The announcement of the final plan comes after months of the WPRFMC expressing serious concern for a sudden, unilateral proposal from the White House to expand the monument. Read the rest here
Obama Extends (Scaled Back) Hawaii National Marine Monument – Kitty Simonds,“U.S. fishermen should be able to fish in U.S. zones,”
The White House announced late Wednesday that President Barack Obama would prohibit fishing in three of America’s remote island territories in the Pacific by declaring them marine national monuments. In June, Obama had proposed closing five areas, which would have doubled the no-take zone. Read the rest here 07:54
WPRFMC Press Release, September 23, 2014 – Workshop Addresses Issue of Disproportionate Burden in Pacific Island Fisheries
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council sponsored a first of its kind workshop on Sept. 18-20, 2014, at the Council office in Honolulu to discuss the concept of “disproportionate burden.” Read the rest here 09:01
Conservationists Spar With Fishermen Over World’s Largest Marine Monument
From the article: “It is very likely that the canneries would go away if the proposed monument expands,”, “they are getting squeezed” by increasing regulations and competition from Asia. Monica Medina, the senior director of International Ocean Policy for National Geographic, says the debate over whether to expand the monument really should not hinge on a cost-and-benefit analysis to fisheries. Read the rest here 15:17:34
Am. Samoa Governor Implores Obama Not To Expand Marine Monument
I mean, What the Hell is an extra 700,000 square miles, right?
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa (The Samoa News, Sept. 16, 2014) – To protect fishing grounds of the U.S. Pacific jurisdictions, Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga has urged U.S. President Barack Obama not to expand existing marine national monuments or create new monuments in the U.S. Pacific islands. Read the rest here
Marine monument expansion stirs controversy
“This attempt at crafting an environmental legacy for our nation will ultimately prove to accomplish the opposite by disenfranchising our own fishermen and outsourcing domestic seafood demand to nations whose standards for environmental protections pale in comparison to our own,” remarked Sean Martin, of the Hawai’i Longline Association. Read the rest here 07:57
WPRFMC Press Release, September 10, 2014 – Marine Monument Expansion Will Fail American Fishermen
HONOLULU (10 September 2014) A delegation from the U.S. Pacific islands, including fisheries managers and commercial fishing industry representatives, met yesterday with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), including Counselor to the President John Podesta. The group conveyed its concerns for an Executive proposal that would bar fishermen from nearly 700,000 miles of vitally historic fishing grounds. Read the Press release here 06:40
Unusual North Pacific warmth jostles marine food chain
Indeed, there are three warm zones, said Nate Mantua, leader of the landscape ecology team at the Southwest Fisheries Science Center: The big blob dominating the Gulf of Alaska, a more recent expanse of exceptionally warm water in the Bering Sea and one that emerged off Southern California earlier this year. Read the rest here 08:33
Pacific Rim nations agree to halve take of dwindling bluefin tuna
Japan, South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday on new annual limits on the catch of dwindling young bluefin tuna in an effort to double the population within a decade. The conservation plan announced by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission after a meeting in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka aims to boost the depleted stock by counting the accidental catch of young bluefin tuna by long-net trawling as part of the regulated take. Read the rest here 11:27
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to cut catch of endangered bluefin tuna
The multi-nation fisheries body that monitors most of the Pacific Ocean has recommended a substantial cut to the catch of juvenile bluefin tuna, a move conservationists say is only an initial step toward saving the dwindling species. Read the rest here 06:24
Pacific tuna stocks on the brink of disaster, warns outgoing fisheries head Glenn Hurry
The Australian who heads fishery management in the Western and Central Pacific has warned an international agreement is urgently needed to avert disaster for the tuna industry. Professor Glenn Hurry said bluefin and bigeye tuna should no longer be harvested, as stocks were dangerously depleted. He also warned “serious action” needed to be taken to reduce the yellowfin tuna catch. Read the rest here 18:39
Kiwi dies on commercial fishing trawler
A Nelson man has died after being struck by a wire on a commercial fishing vessel on the Pacific Ocean. New Zealand authorities are investigating after Leighton Muir, 27, died on board the Talley’s operated fishing vessel Captain MJ Souza near Kiribati on Sunday. A Maritime New Zealand spokeswoman said a crew member had been “struck by a wire under tension”. Read more here 08:47
Japan plans to propose a 50 percent cut on catches of young bluefin tuna in the Western and Central Pacific
Japan plans to propose a 50 percent cut on catches of young bluefin tuna in the Western and Central Pacific, officials said Tuesday (Aug 26), in a historic shift aimed at safeguarding the at-risk species. Tokyo – the world’s biggest consumer of tuna – has been reluctant to reduce catches, despite mounting scientific evidence that stocks are near collapse. Read more here 11:35
WCPFC must urgently address bigeye tuna mortality
Newly released stock assessment that shows bigeye tuna is being overfished underlines why the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) must take decisive action at its December annual meeting to reduce further reductions in bigeye mortality. Read more here 07:46
Pacific call out big fishing nations on catch data– Bigeye crisis link to high seas, reporting loopholes
Pacific nations have slammed major fishing nations using loopholes to duck out of properly reporting their fishing catches in the Pacific. 
members attending the 10th Scientific Committee meeting of the WCPFC say the missing data is critical to help prevent overfishing in Pacific waters. Read more here 16:54
Hawaii: Coast Guard Captain of the Port Closes Ports
Coast Guard Captain of the Port closes ports for Big Island, Maui County to include the islands of Molokai and Lanai, and Oahu to all traffic. All cargo operations in these ports will be secured by 6 p.m. Thursday. <Details are here> 17:55
US-Pacific fishing treaty negotiations stall – Video
The treaty will soon expire, meaning if the US fails to negotiate with the Pacific Islands before the end of the year it will no longer be able to fish legally for tuna in the Pacific. Negotiations have currently stalled, because Kiribati believes it can get more money from Europe in a bilateral deal. Read more here 08:42
Judge: Dongwon knew seiner was unseaworthy before sinking
A judge with the District Court of Guam has determined Dongwon Industries knew about the unseaworthy condition of a vessel it allegedly owned and operated before sending its captains out to sea, and in turn, to their deaths. This determination is included as part of judge Joaquin V.E. Manibusan, Jr.’s decision to deny a Dongwon-linked company, Majestic Blue Fisheries, LLC, its petition to limited its liability for the June 2010 sinking of the fishing vessel Majestic Blue and the deaths of the vessel’s captain and chief engineer. Read more here 20:54
