Federal fishery officials from Honolulu are holding two workshops to inform Big Island fishermen about annual catch limits and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council officials will meet with East Hawaii fishermen on Thursday from 6-9 p.m. at Kanakaole Hall Room 122 on the University of Hawaii at Hilo campus, and with West Hawaii fisherman Sept. 29 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel Ballroom.
“It’s meant to be an informative workshop for fishermen to get them up to speed on some of the federal fishery actions that have taken place recently,” Asuka Chikira, WPFMC protected species coordinator, said on Friday.
She described annual catch limits as “a federal measure to basically set species-by-species quotas.”
“Right now, these only apply to fisheries happening in federal waters, but there have been a lot of questions about them from the fishing community as to who these measures apply to, when they apply and to which fisheries, things like that. We’re going to be there to answer those questions, alleviate any concerns and also to talk about ways to improve the information that goes into setting those measures,” she said.
Kyle Sumner, wholesale fish manager at Suisan Co. in Hilo and a commercial fisherman, said he plans on being at the workshop and believes there will be a strong turnout of fishermen.
“I want to know a little bit more about what the other side of the annual catch limits are, what species they are targeting for annual catch limits,” he said. “And if they’re setting a quota limit, if it’s going to be a quota per fisherman, is it going to be something where people are grandfathered in to the quota, if it’s gonna be select fishermen that are getting in to the quota. There’s just a lot of questions — depending on what they talk about in that meeting — that I want to ask.
“I don’t know if it’s going to affect what I do as a commercial fisherman, but guaranteed it’s going to affect what we do here at the market. I don’t know where they’re getting their studies from on what they’re limiting. I’d like that information, also.”
Sumner said the last time the feds established a catch limit, it was on what local fishermen call the “Deep Seven” bottom fish: onaga, also known as ulaula koae; ulaula, also known as ehu; kalekale; opakapaka; gindai, also known as ukikiki; hapuu, also known as Hawaiian sea bass; and lehi.
“The last time they put in a quota, it was a very low quota and the season ended quickly,” he said. “The second year, they raised the quota and the quota was never reached,” he said. “I think we’re in the third or fourth year now and the season is not yet closed. They did more studies after they closed the season and now they found that there is more of a population of that fish than what they thought before. So they applied a quota to a fish that they didn’t understand, and they didn’t understand the amount of fisheries that there was.
“In the last three years they’ve increased it so dramatically that there’s now no reason for a catch limit, because it’s not getting met.”
Marlowe “Maloy” Sabater, WPFMC marine ecosystem scientist, said the annual catch limit for “Deep Seven” bottom fish is 325,000 pounds.
“The limit from last year wasn’t reached,” he said. “I think it was somewhere around 80 percent of the catch limit that was harvested. We didn’t make the catch limit because the weather has been an issue. Fishermen need to report their catches accurately so it goes through the process. What is really interesting is that the ‘Deep Seven’ bottom fish stock assessment had an increase because fishermen improved on the way they do their reporting … which provided a better estimate of the maximum sustainable yield.”
He said the discussion on reporting for annual catch limits will primarily apply to those bottom fish.
Asked if there would be annual catch limits on other species, such as tuna and marlin, Sabater said that pelagic fish, those who swim closer to the surface in the open ocean, are not included.
“They’re under international management,” he said. “Any species under international management are exempted.”
Chikira said that the Marine Mammal Protection Act has been in effect for four decades, but that some fishermen may not be aware that any time a marine mammal is “taken” — whether caught in a net or hooked by fishermen — the law requires that it be reported.
“We really haven’t seen much impact from the (law) on local fishermen, but there’s some new research that’s happening with marine mammals,” she said. “The more information that you have, the more information you have on management. We want to try to get ahead of the curve and let fisherman now what the (law) is really all about and what they can do to help improve the information.”
