Tag Archives: Kitty Simonds
NOAA’s Sanctuary Expansion Proposal: ‘The nail in the coffin’ of American Samoa’s tuna industry
A regional fishery council warned that the Biden administration’s plan to block off the U.S territorial waters in the Pacific would be the end of American Samoa’s tuna canning industry and quash the culture which the federal government claims to protect. While commercial fishing is currently allowed within 50 to 200 miles of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Agency’ssanctuary expansion proposal would completely cover the U.S exclusive economic zone, prohibiting commercial fishing by U.S fishermen in U.S waters. “For more than 30 years, American Samoa-based purse seiners and Honolulu-based longliners operated in the waters of the Pacific Remote Islands Area until the establishment of the PRIMNM in 2006,” the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council said. “This new action will force U.S purse seiners to fish farther away from Pago Pago Harbor and transport their catch to Mexico and Ecuador instead of the StarKist Samoa cannery, which serves as the backbone of American Samoa’s economy,” the council added.>click to read< 15:45
Hawaii Fish Council Urges Trump To Open Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument To Fishing
The council’s latest push comes on the heels of an executive order President Donald Trump signed on May 7 that’s meant to slash federal regulations and ease environmental burdens on American aquaculture and commercial fishing industries in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic. In an opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, two of Trump’s top advisors, Joe Grogan and Peter Navarro, said the president’s new order would “help reduce pain in the grocery checkout line — and also strengthen U.S. food production against foreign competition.” A provision in Trump’s order calls on the nation’s eight regional fishery management councils to submit “a prioritized list of recommended actions to reduce burdens on domestic fishing and to increase production within sustainable fisheries.” Skeptics, including U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman,, Trump’s order gave each council 180 days to submit recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce. >click to read< 12:42
Conflicts, Lax Oversight Shroud This Secretive Fisheries Fund
In the past 10 years, millions of dollars have flowed through an obscure federal fund aimed at supporting commercial tuna fishermen in Hawaii and three U.S. Pacific island territories. But limited oversight, a process of awarding contracts mostly behind closed doors and a reluctance to produce public records about the fund have stymied efforts to find out how the money is being spent, who is receiving it and whether it’s being used in accordance with federal law, a Civil Beat investigation shows. >click to read<09:20
Chairman’s Death Comes At Crucial Time For Western Pacific Fishery Management Council
The unexpected death this summer of Edwin Ebisui has left the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council with an empty seat and a decision to make on who should take over as its permanent chairman. The leadership void comes at a crucial time for the council, which has been pushing the Trump administration to open up protected waters to commercial fishing. “You can be sure there is all kinds of lobbying going on right now,” said Rick Gaffney, a former council member and head of the Hawaii Fishing and Boating Association.,,, Ebisui, 67, was a Honolulu lawyer who fished commercially for bottomfish such as onaga and opakapaka. He was also a strong advocate for Hawaii’s $100 million tuna industry during his tenure on the council. >click to read<09:55
How the WPFMC and Kitty Simonds Crashed Conservation’s Biggest Event
Irreverent might be the best way to describe Kitty Simonds’ feelings about the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s World Conservation Congress, a 10-day event currently taking place at the Hawaii Convention Center. “It’s all about making money,” Simonds said as she looked dismissively at two preteens taking selfies with cardboard cut-outs of elephants and tigers at an environmental exhibition on the convention center floor. Simonds is the executive director of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council — or Wespac, as it’s more commonly known — a quasi-governmental agency charged with monitoring Pacific fish stocks from Hawaii and American Samoa to Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. She’s a highly contentious figure in conservation circles, which made her organization’s involvement in the world’s largest environmental conference all the more curious. Simond’s brazen attitude was on full display at the Hawaii Convention Center this week. The agency had it’s own exhibition booth alongside the likes of the Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund. The exhibition stuck out, too. (Kudos to Kitty!) Read the story here 07:51
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
