Members of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) participating in the 154th annual meeting of the American Fisheries Society in Honolulu from Sept. 15-19 are calling for greater balance in conservation and fisheries management in marine national monuments.
Council members and advisors to the Council raised concerns during the meeting about expanding closed areas in U.S. Pacific waters, contending that Pacific Islanders are being forced to meet a national goal to protect 30% or U.S. lands and waters at great cost to their economies.
During a session titled “Large Blue-Water Marine Protected Areas: Benefits and Costs,” a member of the council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee challenged an October 2022 paper claiming that the 2016 expansion of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument had spillover benefits for tuna fisheries.
“Considering how little yellowfin tuna was caught in the Monument Expansion Area, it is just biologically impossible to attribute catch rate increases to the expansion without considering broader regional dynamics,” said Scientific and Statistical Committee member Ray Hilborn, a research professor with the University of Washington’s School of Aquatics and Fisheries Science.
A proposed designation of the Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIA) as a national marine sanctuary could potentially shut down tuna fishing in the remaining open waters 50 to 200 nautical miles seaward of Palmyra and Howland/Baker Atolls, according to Wespac.
Tuna-rich U.S. waters around Jarvis, Johnston and Wake Islands are already closed to fishing.
Hilborn said that none of the tuna species are at risk of overfishing, and recent studies concluded closures in nearby Kiribati had zero conservation benefit.
Archie Soliai, council vice chair from American Samoa, said that “Pacific Islanders already carry the disproportionate burden of this 30 by 30 initiative, because 90% of this goal is already in our waters.”
Soliai and Nate llaoa, vice president of the American Samoa advisory panel, stressed that the economy of American Samoa relies heavily on the tuna industry, which provides thousands of jobs and sustains the territory’s shrinking population.
The territory’s last remaining tuna cannery depends on a steady supply of U.S.-caught fish and helps subsidize shipping for most goods, keeping costs affordable for residents. Closing more waters to U.S.-flagged vessels could devastate the local economy, as international agreements already limit their access to the high seas, Wespac said.
The U.S. has also not distinguished an American Samoa purse seine fishery, which could add some relief to international restrictions, the council said.