The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission closed its annual meeting last month, having failed again to significantly strengthen its measure aimed at ending overfishing of tropical tunas, especially bigeye. But it wasn’t for lack of trying. Ahead of the … Continued
In 1989, the state Land Use Commission approved a redistricting petition that shifted about 1,000 acres of Agricultural land in South Kohala, on the west side of the Big Island, into the Urban district. Signal Puako, the landowner, had planned … Continued
“How many observers or crew members have to die before WPCFC takes action? … This. Must. End. Charlie, Keith, and all the other missing observers deserve better,” the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Bubba Cook told the Western and Central … Continued
Olowalu Town Nixed: Last month, at the end of a 12-hour-long hearing, the Land Use Commission refused to accept a final environmental impact statement for a residential development of 1,500 units in West Maui first proposed more than 10 years … Continued
Perhaps nothing highlights the need to tighten WCPFC’s shark finning and transshipment measures more than Greenpeace’s documentation last September 9 of the activities of the Taiwanese vessel Shuen De Ching 888. “The catch log indicated only three blue sharks were … Continued
Several years ago, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission adopted a measure ostensibly aimed at banning shark finning, a practice that has helped drive several shark species worldwide toward extinction. But at last month’s annual commission meeting, as the … Continued
In this issue, Environment Hawai`i takes a closer look at the U.S. purse seine fleet fishing in the South Pacific. Although the purse seiners fish thousands of miles from Hawai`i and none regularly pulls into port in Honolulu, they are … Continued
Invasive Initiative: The state’s ability to deal effectively with invasive species has been sorely challenged of late, with the rapid spread of the little fire ant, coconut rhinocerous beetle, coffee berry borer, coqui frogs, weeds too numerous to count, and … Continued
Editor’s note: On November 30, the National Marine Fisheries Service announced that it had approved an agreement between the Hawai`i Longline Association and Guam that cleared the way for charging Hawai`i longliners’ bigeye tuna catch against the Guam quota allocation, … Continued
So which fishery has a greater impact on the overfished bigeye tuna stock in the Western and Central Pacific, the longline or the purse seine? The longline fleet, which targets adult bigeye, removes the most reproductive fish from the population, … Continued