Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — After reviewing a workshop report on American Samoa bottomfish data evaluation, The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council supported a single-species management approach for the next stock assessment...
Honolulu, HAWAII — Scientists will meet this week — Nov. 30 to Dec. 2, 2021 — to provide advice and comments to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council on tropical tuna annual catch limits, American Samoa bottonfish data, and other topics.
The meeting will be held virtually and is...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council announces the following public meetings on fisheries management in offshore waters of American Samoa (AS).
Unless otherwise noted, the meetings will be held by web conference. Host sites are subject to local and...
Honolulu, HAWAII — Since 2006, Kitty Simonds has used her position and the resources available to her as executive director of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to organize and facilitate a fierce resistance to the establishment or expansion of marine monuments.
While the...
HONOLULU — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council recommended this week that the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) implement a 5,000-pound annual catch limit (ACL) for the American Samoa bottomfish stock complex.
According to a 2019 NMFS assessment, the 11-species bottomfish...
HONOLULU — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will meet virtually on Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021, and take final action on the American Samoa Bottomfish Rebuilding plan. The agenda, background documents and instructions for connecting to the meeting and providing oral public...
Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Updates on island fisheries as well as the tuna industry and COVID-19 impacts, are two main subjects covered in a brief “American Samoa Island Report” for the 187th Meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, set to be held virtually from Sept. 21...
Honolulu, HAWAII — The answer to this question is not so simple—but, don’t be alarmed! The situation is certainly not permanent and tuna stocks around Hawaii are doing just fine. Bigeye and yellow fin tuna (‘ahi), like any commodity, are very dynamic when it comes to supply, demand and pricing....
HONOLULU — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council voted to defer action on the rebuilding plan for the federally managed bottomfish complex in American Samoa at its virtual meeting yesterday in Honolulu.
In February 2020, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) informed the...
Honolulu, HAWAII — The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) supports inclusion of a new section on fishermen observations to the annual status of the fisheries regional and pelagic reports for American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the...


![WesPac’s Scientific and Statistical committee may provide comments on the U.S. proposal to increase the domestic longline fleet’s catch limit for bigeye tuna. [photo: John Kaneko via WCPFC] Fishing boat docked](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/hi_pelagic_fishing.jpg?itok=frqyK17y)


![According to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, only a few small boats fish for bottomfish in American Samoa, with most in need of repair and experiencing high operational costs. [photo: Domingo Ochaillo] Three alia boats tethered to shore](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/alia_0.jpg?itok=ZyReZHMv)
![American Samoa bottom fishers primarily use hand line gear (shown on right) to catch fish due to the high expense of electric reels. [courtesy photo] Two types of bottombishing gear, electric and hand line](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/bottom_fishing_gear_copy.png?itok=HAXckWDk)

![Poke trio. [photo: Dean Sensui. Via Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council] Three different poke bowls](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/poke_bowls_web.jpg?itok=VJNA5XBC)
![The council noted the disparities in catchability between using hand-cranked reels, common among local bottom fishermen, and electric reels. American Samoa bottom fishermen commonly use the hand-cranked reels (right). [courtesy photo] hand cranked reel beside an electric reel](https://samoanews.com/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/field/image/hand_cranked_reel.jpg?itok=A17l10l7)
