On February 7, the Conservation Council for Hawai\u2018i and Kona activist Mike Nakachi sent the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) a warning: Fulfill your obligations to protect threatened oceanic whitetip sharks or face a lawsuit that could halt Hawai\u2018i\u2019s two longline fisheries, as well as the American Samoa longline fishery and the U.S. purse seine fishery in the Western Pacific. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To say the Western Pacific Fishery\nManagement Council is unhappy about\nthat would be an understatement.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In listing the oceanic whitetip shark\nas threatened in January 2018, NMFS\nreported that the catch rate for the shark\nin the Hawai\u2018i longline fishery \u2013 a measure\nof its relative abundance \u2013 had declined by\nmore than 90 percent since 1995. Catch\nrates throughout the Western and Central\nPacific have declined similarly, driven\nmainly by a high international demand for\nthe sharks\u2019 fins.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Scientists studying the region have determined that fisheries there are killing the sharks at a highly unsustainable rate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the Endangered Species Act, NMFS\u2019s Office of Sustainable Fisheries is required to consult with the agency\u2019s Office of Protected Resources to determine the potential impacts of the U.S. pelagic fisheries on the sharks and then issue a biological opinion on whether the fisheries are likely to jeopardize the sharks\u2019 continued existence. That opinion would include an incidental take statement authorizing the fisheries to harm or kill of a limited number of sharks and specifying measures to minimize the effects of that take. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 60-day notice of intent to sue the\nservice, Earthjustice attorney Christopher\nEaton \u2014 representing the Conservation\nCouncil and Nakachi \u2014 argued that by\nallowing the fisheries to continue before\ncompleting consultation, the service is\nviolating the act.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNMFS may not authorize pelagic fisheries activity until it completes consultation on the fisheries\u2019 effects on the oceanic whitetip shark and ensures its authorization of the fisheries and implementation of the Pelagic FEP [fishery ecosystem plan] will not jeopardize the species,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of the March meeting of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, the service had not yet completed its consultations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Numbers\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognizing the harm fishing was inflicting on oceanic whitetip sharks, the international Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) several years ago passed a measure that requires vessels from participating countries to release any oceanic whitetip shark as soon as possible after it is brought alongside the vessel and \u201cto do so in a manner that results in as little harm to the shark as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), which governs pelagic fisheries in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, adopted a similar measure, which requires vessels to promptly release the sharks unharmed, to the extent practicable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both measures include provisions intended to prevent the intentional harvest of the sharks. In its own attempt to reduce shark finning, NMFS also published a rule in 2011 prohibiting their retention by pelagic longline fleets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the federal and international\nmeasures, the U.S. pelagic fisheries in the\nPacific still catch hundreds or thousands of\nwhitetips, depending on the year.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earthjustice\u2019s Eaton pointed out in his letter to NMFS that the Hawai\u2018i deep-set longline fishery, which primarily targets bigeye tuna, caught an average of 800 oceanic whitetip sharks a year between 2007 and 2016. Last year, the fishery\u2019s 140-plus vessels caught 366, and the year before, they caught 535, according to logbook reports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hawai\u2018i shallow-set fishery, which primarily targets swordfish, is a much smaller fishery and catches far fewer whitetips, about a few dozen a year, according to logbook reports. The American Samoa longline fleet, although similarly small, catches a few to several hundred of the sharks a year. Last year, the fishery\u2019s 13 vessels caught 311. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Data on how many oceanic whitetips are caught and killed each year by the U.S. Pacific purse seine fishery are scarce, although both international Pacific fishery organizations, WCPFC and the IATTC, require that participating member countries provide that information. Last year, the purse seiners\u2019 massive nets were reported to have hauled in 11 whitetips in the Western and Central Pacific, nine of which were dead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, 25-30 percent of the sharks\nare released dead by the longline fisheries,\naccording to data submitted to the regional\nfishery organizations. While the purse seine\nfishery seems to catch fewer whitetips, it kills\nbetween 80 and 90 percent of them.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n How many of the sharks released alive actually survive is unknown, but resource management organizations, such as the IATTC, have acknowledged that post-release mortality is a concern and that the measures they have passed may be insufficient. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Dilatory Pace\u2019\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n NMFS is supporting tagging research in\nwaters off Kona to learn as much as possible\nabout the sharks\u2019 basic ecology and stock\nstructure, and environmental variables\nassociated with their presence or absence,\namong other things, according to a blog\npublished by the National Oceanic and\nAtmospheric Administration.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agency has also been working for months on consultations for some of the pelagic fisheries in the Western Pacific region. To Western Pacific Fishery Management Council executive director Kitty Simonds, however, the service is moving way too slow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In delivering her periodic report to the council at its meeting last month, she warned it would be unequivocally bleak. She informed the council of Earthjustice\u2019s notice of intent to sue, which included an injunction threat aimed at the Honolulu- based deep-set longline fishery, which she said is the country\u2019s seventh-most valuable; the Hawaii shallow-set fishery, which reportedly provides 50 to 60 percent of the domestic swordfish in the United States; and the American Samoa longline and Pacific purse seine fisheries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy? NMFS has failed to do its job,\u201d\nSimonds said, complaining that the closure\nthreat resulted from the \u201cdilatory pace\u201d with\nwhich NFMS\u2019s Pacific Islands Regional\nOffice (PIRO) was proceeding with its\nconsultations.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Earthjustice notice was a response to NMFS not fulfilling its duties and not prioritizing completing the consultation process, she said. As a result, the fisheries are in \u201cgreat danger,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cI can\u2019t emphasize enough the lack of government support.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mike Tosatto, administrator for the NMFS\u2019s Pacific Islands Regional Office, called Simonds\u2019 statement disappointing and stressed that his staff are \u201cnothing but diligent professionals pursuing the work they need to do to protect our protected species … in partnership with this council.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019ll ask all of you and the executive director to stop before we do damage to that partnership,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Simonds was unmoved: \u201cI\u2019m not talking about the staffs of the region and the [Pacific Islands Fisheries Science] Center. I am talking about the leadership in terms of the urgency to plan their work to also accommodate the council, which has not happened. … I hope I\u2019ve not offended the staff. I\u2019m not talking about the staff. I\u2019m talking about leadership.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo we just wait for the lawsuit to come across and some other process starts with the possibility the fisheries start closing? … What are the possible impacts on fisheries, in particular the American Samoa longline fishery?\u201d asked council member Christinna Lutu-Sanchez, representing American Samoa fishers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tosatto said he could not respond to questions about how NMFS intends to respond to the notice of intent to sue. Notices of intent \u201chappen throughout agencies all the time. Sometimes they actually sue. … From here, we frankly don\u2019t have insight into their motivations.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In the meantime, the fisheries continue\nto operate, he said. He noted that NMFS\nwas working on reinitiating consultation for\nthe American Samoa longline fishery.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Addressing questions from council members about what NMFS was doing in response to the notice from Earthjustice, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration counsel Kristen Johns explained that if a lawsuit were initiated, \u201cwe would then react to that lawsuit when it was filed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI imagine the risk could be disastrous for the fisheries, not only for American Samoa, but Hawai\u2018i. That\u2019s a big concern, I\u2019m sure you can appreciate. … I assume they would be asking for an injunction. … Am I correct?\u201d asked council chair Archie Taotasi Soliai, an executive with the Starkist tuna processing plant in American Samoa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Johns said the plaintiffs could seek to\nfully or partially close the fisheries and seek\nlitigation costs.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s not disastrous. That\u2019s catastrophic,\u201d Soliai said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dean Sensui asked if it was the office\u2019s\npriority to complete the shark consultations\nbefore completing a long-awaited biological\nopinion for loggerhead and leatherback sea\nturtles for the Hawaii shallow-set fishery.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not necessarily, Tosatto replied.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member John Gourley of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands asked Tosatto if his office had sufficient staff to do four consultations \u2013 one\nfor each of the U.S. Western Pacific fisheries\nthat interact with the sharks \u2013 at the same\ntime before completing the one that\u2019s been\nongoing for the sea turtles.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tosatto replied that his agency was initiating consultations on the fisheries. \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy or myopic decision to make. It\u2019s relatively complex and we\u2019re acting as best we can,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Throwing Rocks\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the council\u2019s three-day meeting, members lamented the various impediments to fisheries in the region, including litigation over an area closed to longliners in American Samoa, the closure earlier this year of a huge fishing area south of the Main Hawaiian islands due to the deep-set fishery\u2019s injury and killing of false killer whales, and \u2014 not least \u2014 the closure on March 19 of the Hawaii shallow-set fishery due to the taking of 17 endangered loggerhead sea turtles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the last day of the council meeting, staff presented a final recommendation that seemed meant to encapsulate the council\u2019s general feeling regarding who was to blame for these impediments. Staff started off by recommending that the council request that PIRO complete the shark consultations for the four affected pelagic fisheries by June 1. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Council makes this request to ensure the expeditious completion of the consultations to reduce litigation risks associated with the continued operation of these vital fisheries. The Council and its staff are ready to assist NMFS to complete these consultations according to the existing ESA-MSA Integration Agreement,\u201d the recommendation read, referring to the Endangered Species Act and the Magnuson Stevens Act, which governs U.S. fisheries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then things seemed to turn personal.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo date, PIRO leadership has not ensured timely completion of ESA consultations for these fisheries as well as MSA fishery actions (e.g., territory bigeye specifications, FEP review, etc.), leaving the Council highly uncertain about its confidence in PIRO leadership to meet statutory deadlines and ensure the sustainability of the region\u2019s fisheries as mandated by the MSA,\u201d the recommendation continued. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then came the threat.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf PIRO leadership cannot ensure completion by the requested deadline, the Council may take a vote at the June Council meeting on whether or not it has confidence in the Regional Administrator to lead NMFS PIRO. The Council directs staff to notify Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries, of this timeline as well as concerns with the lack of timely completion of the ESA consultations for the region\u2019s pelagic fisheries,\u201d it stated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tosatto asked to speak before staff read aloud the proposed \u2014 and in his view, offensive \u2014 language to the council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf it is not your intent to permanently\ndamage the partnership we have, I ask you\nnot to read this and not to go down this\npath. It\u2019s clear, as council members, you do\nnot understand the work that we do,\u201d he\nsaid, pointing out that he had offered each\ncouncil member the opportunity to visit\nwith his staff to help them understand what\nit takes to complete the work it does.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, he continued, \u201cIf you have\nthat ill intent, please proceed.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simonds dismissed Tosatto\u2019s characterization of the recommendation. \u201cThere is no ill intent in this, but given what has happened to our fishery over the last several years … For three years, our fishery was shut down not [as a result of] anything to do with overfishing,\u201d she said, referring to times when the deep-set longline fishery hit its international bigeye quotas before NMFS could make allocations from the Pacific island territories official. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She pointed out that one year, the deep-set fleet had to stop fishing for about three months after reaching its WCPFC quota. \u201cSixty-five days … What do you think happened to the market? The reason [for the delay was] the regional office didn\u2019t complete paperwork,\u201d she complained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier in the meeting, she expressed\nher frustration with the service\u2019s repeated\ndelays in the issuance of a draft biological\nopinion on the Hawai\u2018i shallow-set fishery\u2019s\nimpacts on loggerhead and leatherback sea\nturtles. A draft was supposed to have been\nissued late last year, but still had not been\nreleased before the end of the council\u2019s\nMarch meeting, in part due to the federal\ngovernment shutdown. In the meantime,\nbecause the fishery\u2019s annual hard cap for\nloggerheads had been reduced last year by\ncourt order from 34 to 17, the fishery closed\non March 19.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking to the recommendation from her staff, Simonds reiterated her long-standing argument that the council needs to be included in the service\u2019s planning process. \u201cWe have tried every which way to develop [memoranda of understanding] documents, action plans. … Nothing was working,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She went on to say that the council\u2019s and NMFS staffs work well together, but complained that there was no sense of urgency among the agency\u2019s leadership to\nget things done.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe do understand what it takes.\nWe\u2019ve been in this business for 40 years,\u201d\nshe said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council chair Soliai said he agreed with\nSimonds that there was no ill intent in the\nrecommendation. \u201cI think this is not a slap\nin the face, but this is a call to expedited\naction, just a show that we\u2019d like a little bit\nmore urgency in addressing the concerns we\ntalked about all week,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite their assurances, Tosatto said that if the council approved the recommendation, the message sent to his staff would be damaging, nonetheless. \u201cThis will ripple through staff, what is sent, even though it\u2019s very pointed in my direction,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While he said he took full responsibility for PIRO\u2019s actions (or apparent inaction), he explained that there are many reasons why things happen the way they do, suggesting that his agency isn\u2019t solely responsible for delays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a complex business to work in. … There are many rocks to be thrown. … There are many fingers to point,\u201d he said, later noting that his agency has never received a document from council staff adequate enough to put into the Federal Register<\/em>, without substantial revision. Preparing documents that are acceptable to NOAA\u2019s general counsel takes time, he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are many external drivers. Some the council staff knows about. Some they don\u2019t. Some they agree with. Some they don\u2019t. At the end, we\u2019re going to have a legal document that goes out the door and nothing else,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Still, the council members piled on.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mike Goto, a member of the Hawai\u2018i\nLongline Association and head of the\nHonolulu fish auction, explained that he\nsupported the recommendation because\nhe wants to be able to tell his clients, which\ninclude both fishermen and marketers, that\n\u201ceverything that could be done was done\u201d\nto protect the fisheries.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Lutu-Sanchez added\nlater, \u201cWe can\u2019t tell the fishermen, \u2018Sorry,\nyou can\u2019t go fishing because some report\nisn\u2019t done.\u2019 They just don\u2019t understand\nthat.\u201d As she saw it, the recommendation\nsends a \u201cmessage of desperation [for NMFS\nto] finish whatever needs to be done.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Ed Watamura of\nthe Waialua Boat Club, suggested that\nthe service was biased in its treatment of\nfisheries.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBasically, it comes down to a conflict between fisheries and protected species. The fisheries are being affected and shut down because of the protected species\nconcerns.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEven if we look at the composition of NOAA and we look at how many protected species people are employed … compared to sustainable fisheries, it becomes evident where all the money and resources are being put. Just do the math. … I think the actual focus of resources needs to change,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Henry Sesepasara, who\nworks for the American Samoa Department\nof Marine and Wildlife Resources, did\nexpress concern over what the council\u2019s\nrelationship with PIRO would be like if the\nrecommendation were approved. Tosatto\nassured him that however the council voted,\n\u201cPIRO and PIFSC will act professionally,\ncompetently and diligently.\u201d\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even so, Tosatto added that the finger- pointing part of the recommendation \u201creally serves no purpose in this forum here and now.\u201d And non-voting council member Brian Peck of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife\nService agreed.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Council member Ryan Okano of the Hawai\u2018i Department of Land and Natural Resources was the sole voting council member \u2014 aside from Tosatto \u2014 who did not support the motion. Before the council vote, Okano expressed how important he thinks relationships are. \u201cNot everybody agrees with decisions that my agency does, but I still try to retain positive relations. That\u2019s the way I was brought up. This\u201d \u2014 referring to the recommendation \u2014 \u201cbothers me,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to say anybody\u2019s wrong, anybody\u2019s right. I\u2019m gonna abstain. The reason: I don\u2019t want to damage relationships. I don\u2019t want to take sides,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (For more background on this issue, see \u201cNMFS Seeks Comments on Protecting Oceanic Whitetip Sharks Under ESA<\/a>,\u201d from our February 2016 issue, available at environment-hawaii.org.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n By Teresa Dawson<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On February 7, the Conservation Council for Hawai‘i and Kona activist Mike Nakachi sent the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) a warning: Fulfill your obligations to protect threatened oceanic whitetip sharks or face a lawsuit that could halt Hawai‘i’s two … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452],"tags":[3],"class_list":["post-11138","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\/11138","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=11138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}