A major discussion item the past two days has been an amendment to the Pelagic Fishery Management Plan that would authorize American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI to utilize their Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission longline bigeye tuna catch limits through arrangements with U.S. vessels permitted through the Pelagic FMP.
The primary objective of this amendment is to stimulate fisheries development in the U.S. territories.
Council member Manuel Duenas of Guam and others noted that the U.S. longline vessels permitted under the Pelagic FMP, with whom the territories would be able to enter into arrangement, are the most highly regulated and closely monitored fishing vessels in the world.
