The meeting held in the conference room of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Honolulu office on the afternoon of January 29 must have been a doozy. As a result of what he claimed was uncivil behavior of a participant, … Continued
Every penny spent by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council comes from federal coffers. Yet tracking how those funds are spent would seem to demand the combined skills of an accountant, a sleuth, and, most of all, a psychic. And … Continued
The Hawai`i longline fishery faces a conundrum. How can it get around a limit on its haul of bigeye tuna without appearing to violate the international treaty under which that limit was set? The Hawai`i Longline Association, whose members represent … Continued
On June 14, U.S. District Judge David Ezra denied without prejudice the Hawai`i Longline Association’s (HLA) appeal of a January settlement between the National Marine Fisheries Service and environmental groups regarding interactions between the shallow-set longline fishery and threatened loggerhead … Continued
“I am concerned about the Deep 7 bottomfish fishery. We were overfishing in the past. We are not overfishing now. We could be overfishing in the near future if we make the wrong decision now,” warned National Marine Fisheries Service … Continued
At the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s meeting in June, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) research ecologist Amanda Bradford presented new data on the ranges of Hawaiian false killer whales (FKW), which the council then seized on as proof … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service says that a petition to delist the Hawai`i population of green sea turtles – removing its status as threatened under the Endangered Species Act – “may be warranted.” “We find that the petition viewed in … Continued
Edward Glazier, editor. Ecosystem-Based Fisheries Management in the Western Pacific. Published by Wiley-Blackwell and the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, 2011. 280 pages plus 24 pages of color plates. $209.95 hard cover. In the category of expensive books that few … Continued
The popular verdict on a proposal to remove Endangered Species Act protections for the Hawai`i population of the green sea turtle is in: by a staggering margin, opponents of the proposal outnumber those who favor it. Of course, the National … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service has approved a new rule that significantly increases the potential number of loggerhead and leatherback sea turtles that can be harmed by the Hawai`i swordfish fleet in a given year. On October 4, the Federal … Continued