December 16, 2021 — Recent international Pacific tuna talks were deemed “unfavorable” for U.S. interests, according to fishery managers in Hawaii.
The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council had hoped to convince the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to almost double the Hawai‘i longline fishery bigeye tuna catch limits. The Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee supported it and the Council had worked on the increase for the past six years.
The U.S. delegation also asked the Commission to reduce the total catch on South Pacific albacore, with a goal of increasing albacore catch rates for fisheries such as American Samoa.
But the Commission disagreed. It disagreed with all of the U.S.-recommended changes.