{"id":11130,"date":"2019-04-01T00:30:34","date_gmt":"2019-04-01T00:30:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=11130"},"modified":"2019-10-04T00:54:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T00:54:10","slug":"wespac-meeting-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/?p=11130","title":{"rendered":"Wespac Meeting Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Council Seeks to Preempt Closure\nOf Fishing Areas on the High Seas\n<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Hawaii longline fishing effort in 2018.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The United Nations last year started negotiations on a treaty that could establish large-scale protected areas on the high seas, raising concern among staff of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council that the Hawai\u2018i-based longline fleets may lose even more fishing ground than they already have. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the expansion of the marine national monuments in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Pacific Islands Remote Areas, the deep- and shallow-set fleets \u2014 which target bigeye and swordfish, respectively \u2014 have increasingly focused their efforts on the high seas. According to council staff, more than 70 percent of the deep-set fishery occurs in international waters. For the shallow-set fishery, it\u2019s 90 percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More UN negotiation meetings have\nbeen scheduled throughout this year and\nthe process is expected to conclude in\nmid-2020.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Ray Hilborn, a fisheries scientist and University of Washington professor who sits on the council\u2019s Scientific and Statistical Committee, made a presentation to his fellow committee members on why he believes large-scale marine protected areas are ineffective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among other things, Hilborn has argued in published papers that MPAs don\u2019t protect against much of anything except fishing and don\u2019t even do a good job of that, since fishing effort doesn\u2019t go away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It simply moves elsewhere.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an August 2018 article in the journal BioScience<\/em>, more than a dozen scientists\nfrom across the world (including the\nUniversity of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s Alan Friedlander)\naddressed the many criticisms of large-scale\nmarine protected areas leveled by Hilborn\nand others.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They conceded that fisheries management can help rebuild overexploited stocks while not addressing the status of non-target species or those that aren\u2019t commercially viable, \u201cand it often fails to account for the collateral impacts of fishing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMeasures such as bycatch mitigation, gear restrictions, and seasonal closures may reduce some of the broader ecosystem impacts of fisheries. However, MPAs embody long-term ecosystem-based management, protecting vulnerable and under- and un- valued species and helping secure ecosystem integrity through maintenance of trophic linkages, things that usually go beyond the mandate or competence of fishery managers,\u201d they wrote, adding that MPAs also address threats from activities, \u201csuch as maritime traffic or oil and mineral exploration and exploitation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, Chris Smyth and Quentin Hanich of the University of Wollongong\u2019s Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) released a discussion paper earlier this year detailing the kinds of research needed to fill data gaps regarding large-scale MPAS. The list is long, and includes studies on spillover effects, migratory species, climate change, and socio-economics, among other things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the BioScience <\/em>and discussion paper were funded in whole or part by the Pew Charitable Trusts, which also supports the UN\u2019s Intergovernmental Conference in Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At its meeting last month, the council voted to direct its staff to write to the Department of State to convey its concerns over the text of the UN convention, \u201cincluding a\nrequest that high seas fisheries targeting\ntuna and tuna-like species be exempt from\nany potential high seas closures established\nunder the … convention.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council staffer Eric Kingma told the\ncouncil\u2019s scientific committee that if the\nUN convention does establish high-seas\nprotected areas, it could become a \u201cgreat\nconcern\u201d since so much of the the Hawai\u2018i\nlongline fisheries\u2019 effort occurs there.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re so worked up,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Bigeye Allocations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Bigeye tuna on ice. Credit: NOAA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“This is a messy year. We don\u2019t want to complicate things,\u201d council executive director Kitty Simonds said of its recommendations to the National Marine Fisheries Service on how bigeye tuna quotas should be transferred from Pacific island territories to Hawai\u2018i-based longliners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year, the council submits recommendations to the service on how much of the territories\u2019 bigeye tuna quota should be assigned to American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and how much of that quota can then in turn be transferred to the Hawai\u2018i longline fleet. The quota specifications implement measures adopted by the international Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In years past, the council suggested NMFS allocate more than what\u2019s been traditionally granted, up to 1,000 metric tons (mt) per territory. Calculations by council staff indicate that doubling that amount \u2014 for a total of up to 6,000 additional mt \u2014 wouldn\u2019t result in overfishing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The likelihood that an increased effort by the Hawai\u2018i fleet would somehow endanger the stock is even slimmer, Kingma argued recently, since the longline fleets for countries such as Indonesia and Japan are underutilizing their quotas. Japan, in fact, has transferred some of its quota to China, he said at last month\u2019s meeting of the council\u2019s Scientific and Statistical Committee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kingma said it was \u201chappy times\u201d for bigeye in the region, in light of the commission\u2019s recent stock assessments indicating that the fish are neither overfished or subject to overfishing. Even so, the United States\u2019 quota has been stuck at 3,554 mt in recent years, although it\u2019s been able to catch much more under the territorial allocations. Last year, the Hawai\u2018i longline fleet caught about 5,100 metric tons. One-thousand mt came as quota transferred from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and about 100 mt came from American Samoa\u2019s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At last month\u2019s council meeting, member Mike Goto, who manages the Honolulu fish auction, stressed that it was important for NMFS to complete its rules governing the allocations in a timely manner. In years past, when the fishery was catching bigeye at an unusually high rate, the fleet had to halt temporarily while the allocation rules were finalized. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mike Tosatto, administrator for NMFS\u2019s\nPacific Islands Regional Office, pointed out\nthat the bigeye catch rate has returned to\nits long-term average and said the rules this\nyear should be done quickly if they simply\nmaintain the status quo.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, council staff said they\nwill delay until next year a recommendation\nthat NMFS prepare multi-year allocation\nrules. It also recommended that NMFS\nmaintain the status quo in terms of the\nterritorial allocations.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goto said that the status quo allocations were sufficient, even in the boom years. However, he added, \u201cwe can definitely do more with more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Black-footed Albatross<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 2015, the Hawai\u2018i longline fishery\n\u2014 mainly the deep-set portion \u2014 saw\na sharp increase in the number of black-\nfooted albatross hookings and they have\nstayed high ever since.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the council held a workshop\nto explore possible mitigation measures.\nPriorities identified were captain and crew\ntraining, side-setting, bird curtains, tori or\nstreamer lines, towed buoys, and branch\nline weighting. With specific regard to the\nshallow-set fishery that goes after swordfish,\nnight setting and offal management were\nconsidered moderate priorities.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Laysan and black-footed albatross\npopulations are stable or increasing, they\nare protected under the Migratory Bird\nTreaty Act.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The increase in black-footed hookings could be due to a combination of factors, including an increased overlap of fishing grounds and albatross habitat, \u201ccaptain effects\u201d (a small number of captains are having a higher number of interactions), and\/or habituation by the birds to existing mitigation measures, such as blue-dyed bait. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mitigation requirement to use blue-dyed bait was deprioritized. Council staffer Asuka Ishizaki explained that the effectiveness of the bait was originally tested on squid, but the fishery has been using fish instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, fishermen find that thawing and then dying the bait is impractical, and it also reduces bait retention on hooks, she continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Workshop participants determined that\nthe birds\u2019 increased interactions with the\nHawai\u2018i longliners alone was likely to have\nan imperceptible difference on the black-\nfooted albatross population growth. \u201cThey\ndid find, if they assumed the increase was\nNorth Pacific-wide, and it was the new\nnormal, that\u2019s when you saw a decline in\npopulation over time,\u201d Ishizaki told the\ncouncil last month.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That conclusion, however, was based on\ndata going as far back as 2002 and did not\ntake into account more recent measures\nadopted by regional fishery management\norganizations that require better seabird\nmitigation, she argued.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Included in the seabird bycatch measures approved by the council last month was a recommendation that the National Marine Fisheries Service prioritize conducting an international bycatch assessment for North Pacific albatross species to better determine the relative risk the Hawai\u2018i fleet poses to the birds. (The council approved the measure despite NMFS Pacific Islands Regional Office administrator Mike Tosatto explaining that his agency \u201cdoesn\u2019t do that.\u201d) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The council also asked the service to\ninvestigate whether blue-dyed bait reduces\ncatch rates of targeted species, perhaps\nresulting in increased effort and thus also\nmore seabird interactions.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ishizaki proposed to address the \u201ccaptain\neffects\u201d through strategic outreach.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFishery participants may not be aware of recent higher interactions,\u201d she said, adding that NMFS and staff were developing a \u201creport card\u201d approach to inform captains\nof their bycatch performance and facilitate\ntraining opportunities.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis could have a much larger effect\nthan modifying gear measures,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council member Ryan Okano, representing the state of Hawai\u2018i, asked whether the report card would include data on turtle and false killer whale bycatch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would not, she said, although she did note that the albatross interactions are similar to those for loggerheads in that observers are \u201cseeing large number of interactions with a small number of trips.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe industry could take that on as part of a way to stay under hard caps [for turtles and false killer whales]. In this instance with seabirds, we\u2019re looking at it because we don\u2019t have a hard cap for birds,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Monk Seals<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The endangered Hawaiian monk seal population is estimated to have grown from 1,351 individuals in 2017 to 1,429 last year, according to Mike Seki, director of the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. The growth was mainly attributable to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seki told the council\u2019s scientific committee last month that despite the increase, pup survival is at an all time low. Pups die due to shark predation, weather, and natural causes, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA big concern is the disappearing of\nTrig and East Islands in the fall. What that\nmeans for the population going forward has\nyet to be seen,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Main Hawaiian Islands population\nappears stable, but the status and trends are\nambiguous, he continued, since \u201ca lot of the\nseals are on Ni\u2018ihau and Lehua island, where\nscientists don\u2019t have a lot of access.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Teresa Dawson <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Council Seeks to Preempt Closure Of Fishing Areas on the High Seas The United Nations last year started negotiations on a treaty that could establish large-scale protected areas on the high seas, raising concern among staff of the Western Pacific … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-11130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-april-2019","tag-teresa-dawson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}