Wespac Releases Report on Status of Western Pacific Region Fisheries
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) on Sept. 11 released its 2023 Western Pacific Region Status of the Fisheries report, which highlights some of the changes in U.S. Pacific Island fisheries from 2021 through 2023.
Bottomfishing in some parts of Hawaii was slow due to poor conditions potentially associated with the Kona weather pattern, according to the report, but fishers noted good recruitment with larger opakapaka around Oahu and abundant ehu and gindai fish around Kauai.
University of Hawaii data showed a decrease in active commercial harvesters and trips, but landings of Deep 7 bottomfish species were up by over 8,000 pounds from the previous year to just over 197,000 pounds.
American Samoa’s bottomfish fishery had a total estimated catch of 4...
