June 27, 2019 — Hawaii’s longline fishermen will be able to catch nearly 18 million pounds of bigeye tuna next year under a recommendation adopted Wednesday by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.
That’s more than double the limit set by the international body that regulates fishing in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, but they skirt that by allocating the additional catch to U.S. Pacific island territories.
Federal and industry scientists said the bigeye stock in the region will remain sustainable, and that their modeling does not suggest the increased quota will lead to overfishing.
That’s good news for poke bowl fans and lovers of fresh ahi sashimi. Wespac members said it could mean more stable prices and better availability in local and national markets.
But an increase in fishing concerns environmental groups who highlight how the longliners accidentally catch endangered turtles, dolphins, albatrosses and sharks while targeting tuna.
David Henkin, Honolulu-based staff attorney for Earthjustice, said the longline tuna fishery’s indiscriminate fishing methods — miles of line and thousands of hooks are strung off each boat — kill and injure countless non-target marine species each year.
Wespac’s science committee recommended last week that the full council should let Hawaii’s longliners allocate up to 2,000 tons (4.4 million pounds) in additional catch to each of the three territories.
The Hawaii Longline Association, which represents most of the fleet, had supported that decision as well. Executive Director Eric Kingma said it would be a “wise choice” that provides more flexibility to the industry and more utilization of a resource that is not being overfished.
He was one of the scientists who produced the paper on which the recommendation was made.