Tag Archives: Large vessel Prohibited Area
American Samoa wins suit against NMFS over Large Vessel Prohibited Area rule change
American Samoa has won its lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service over the Large Vessel Prohibited Area rule change. Hawaii Federal District Court Judge, Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi issued her ruling in the Territory of American Samoa’s case against NOAA ruling in favor of the Territory and vacating and setting aside NOAA rule 81 Fed. Reg. 5619 (Feb. 3, 2016) which shrunk the Large Vessel Prohibited Area (LVPA) from 50 to 12 miles. This allowed long-line vessels larger than 50 feet in length to fish closer to the islands. The Court reached this decision after concluding that NOAA failed to consider the Deeds of Cession. Specifically the Court ruled that, “the Deeds of Cession require the United States to preserve American Samoan cultural fishing practices and that the deeds constitute “any other applicable law” for purposes of the [Magnusson Stevens Act].” continue reading the story here 11:10
Western Pacific – NMFS allows longliners to fish within 12 miles from shore
In a decision issued today, the US National Marine Fisheries Service has allowed locally based longliners to fish within 12 miles from shore. The federal agency approved a recommendation by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council to amend the Large vessel Prohibited Area, (LVPA) which currently restircts longliners to fish 50 miles out. Read the rest here – American Samoa wants to be part of fish negotiations Read the rest here Pago Pago feels the effects of idle fishing boats Read the rest here 12:04
