HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Fishers from across the region this week will discuss data collected during the pandemic and recommendations made by an in-house group of scientists.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s scientific and statistical committee recently supported including a new section of fishermen observations in an upcoming report that details regional and pelagic fish stocks, sea surface temperatures and other activities for Guam, the CNMI, Hawaii and other islands in the region.
The input given was important “in light of Covid-19-related restrictions on data gathering, and real in-water experiences that cannot be replicated by federally funded science,” according to the council.
“Bottomfish catch, effort and participation generally declined for all areas except for CNMI in 2020 relative to historical averages, with impacts due to the Covid-19 pandemic likely being a contributing factor,” the council stated in a release. “In addition, there was a severe reduction in fishery-dependent sampling, especially in Guam, where nearly half of the scheduled creel catch interviews for the year were not conducted due to social distancing restrictions.”
The in-house committee also supported options for bigeye tuna longline catch and allocation limits for 2022 of either up to 6.6 million pounds or 13.2 million pounds of total transfers for the participating U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam and the CNMI.
“This recommendation is based on a 2020 assessment for the Western and Central Pacific Ocean that indicated the bigeye tuna stock is healthy — not subject to overfishing or overfished,” the council stated.
As noted by the council, territories such as Guam are able to “transfer” part of their individual quotas through specific agreements. This has benefited larger jurisdictions including Hawaii in the past, by allowing these areas to go above their own assigned quota instead of ceasing fishing activities.
Local members of the council will discuss these and other recommendations when the council meets virtually from June 22 to 24. A release notes that in addition to connecting through a web conference, host sites have been organized in the Marianas.
Members on Guam can attend at Cliff Pointe, 304 West O’Brien Drive in Hagåtña, while members in the CNMI can go to the BRI Building, Suite 205, Kopa Di Oru Street in Garapan, Saipan. More information, including agendas and briefing documents, can be found at www.wpcouncil.org/meetings-calendars
Host sites are subject to local and federal safety and health guidelines regarding Covid-19, according to the council.
