The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will convene today and tomorrow, March 22 and 23, at the Fiesta Resort and Spa on Saipan, and on March 25 and 26 at the Guam Resort and Spa, Tumon Bay, Guam, to consider management measures for such non-commercial fishing and address other issues for federally managed fisheries in the U.S. Pacific islands. Decisions by the council are transmitted to the U.S. commerce secretary for final approval.
During its decision-making, the council will consider public testimony as well as the recommendations of its advisory bodies, including its Scientific and Statistical Committee.
This group of natural and social scientists concluded a three-day meeting yesterday on Guam with the recommendation that permitted fishing activity in the Rose Atoll MNM and Islands Unit of the Marianas Trench MNM should be based on “customary exchange.”
According to the committee, customary exchange is the non-market exchange of goods, services and social support. It differs from monetary exchange and even trade and barter in that there is not a calculated equivalency or an expectation of immediate return. This giving and sharing establishes, supports and reinforces social relations between family, friends, created kin and relations between chiefs and followers in important cultural and ceremonial contexts.
Among the indigenous communities in the Western Pacific, giving fish on ceremonial occasions is critically important to participating in and contributing to the maintenance of the social fabric and cultural continuity of those communities.
Given the distances to the MNMs, the committee also recommended that fishermen who want to gain fishing access for non-commercial, sustenance, traditional indigenous and recreational purposes in the Rose Atoll, Marianas Trench and Pacific Remote Islands Area MNMs be allowed to recover the costs of expenditures to fish.
Unless they are allowed some reimbursement for fuel, bait, ice and provisions, it is likely that they would not fish in the MNMs, the committee noted.
Rose Atoll, which is traditionally known as Muliva`a or Nu`u o Manu, is located 65 miles east of Ta`u in the Manua Islands and approximately 130 nautical miles east-southeast of Pago Pago Harbor on the island of Tutuila in American Samoa. The three islands of the Marianas Trench MNM are located approximately 260 to 315 north of SaipanI. The PRIA MNM includes Baker, Howland, Jarvis and Wake Islands; Palmyra and Johnston Atolls; and Kingman Reef. The distance from Honolulu to these islands and atolls ranges from 720 to 2,100 nautical miles.
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