March 20, 2025 — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Council (WPRFC) is preparing to implement electronic monitoring on all commercial longline fishing vessels by 2027.
At the March meeting of the WPRFC’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), the Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO) outlined its plan to begin phasing in electronic monitoring to the U.S. longline fleet. According to the office, regulators plan to have all 161 Hawai’i and American Samoan longline vessels outfitted with electronic monitoring systems by 2027.