How does the middle of the Pacific Ocean, an area that’s practically a desert when it comes to the nutrients that lie at the very heart of the marine food chain, manage to support some of the largest life forms … Continued
A recent rapid assessment of 83 marine species from throughout the Pacific found that sharks — including the threatened oceanic whitetip — sea cucumbers, urchins and clams are highly vulnerable to expected climate change effects over the next few decades. … Continued
Nearly nine years ago, responding to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the National Marine Fisheries Service determined that the insular population of false killer whales around the Main Hawaiian Islands constituted a distinct population segment and merited … Continued
(Posted 11/24/09) A Council Member’s Dissenting View on Bigeye Issue Peter Young, appointed by the governor to represent Hawai’i on the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, has voiced his strong disagreement with the council’s action on bigeye tuna in a … Continued
A federal rule that, for all intents and purposes, does away with bigeye tuna catch limits for the Hawai`i longline fleet is being challenged in U.S. District Court. The lawsuit, filed November 20, was brought by Earthjustice on behalf of … Continued
The following letter was received from the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s communications officer, Sylvia Spalding. We reprint it in its entirety. In its December 2014 issue, Environment Hawai`i published an article on the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s meeting with … Continued
The morning of the vote, before the day’s meeting officially began, members and staff of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council huddled with staff from the National Marine Fisheries Service’s Pacific Islands Regional Office. Wespac executive director Kitty Simonds, NMFS … Continued
How much did U.S. taxpayers spend to argue against the recent expansion of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument? Environment Hawai`i asked that question after the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac) issued a press release describing a meeting … Continued
HFACT Facts: The newly minted Hawai`i Fishermen’s Alliance for Conservation and Tradition made headlines in April 2013 when it petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to remove the North Pacific humpback whales from the federal list of endangered species. Its … Continued
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has directed the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Wespac) to investigate the extent to which federal grant funds might have been misused by council staff members involved in preparing the pending petition to remove … Continued