(WESTPAC) — Scientists and environmental experts from throughout the United States and the Pacific will convene in Lihue, Kauai from May 14 through 16 to discuss fishery management issues in the U.S. Pacific islands. Among the key items to be discussed are the following:
• American Samoa’s limited entry program: The number of fishing vessels participating in the American Samoa longline fishery doubled in 2001, and the level of fishing effort in terms of hooks quadrupled. A 50 mile area closure for large vessels (over 50 feet) was implemented recently, however there is still a concern about unconstrained entry of fishing vessels into the fishery. The group will discuss alternatives for limiting effort in the fishery.
• Meso-pelagic ecosystem: In the underwater slope around the Hawaiian islands, there is a resident community of micronekton (for example fish larvae, juvenile fish, small pelagic fish, pelagic shrimps, and small squids) that serve as an important food resource for many animals including tunas, billfish, bottomfish and spinner dolphins. Despite the importance of this resource to both nearshore and oceanic ecosystems, it has not been well studied in the past. Scientists from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology will present the results from a recent study to the scientific and statistical committee, and discuss the impact that mocronektonic animals have on the foraging behavior of its predators.
