The Honolulu-based Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Wespac) is in the midst of a debate about changing the rules governing non-commercial fishing in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands since the monument’s size was quadrupled by the Obama administration.
“Instead of just extending the same rules as the original monument, the council is debating whether to allow ‘customary exchange,’ in which native Hawaiian and Samoan fishermen could bring back their catch from inside the monument to trade or sell as a way to recoup costs from the trip,” says Civil Beat.
Currently, the monument rules allow for only sustenance fishing, and everything caught must be consumed within the monument and none brought home. But given the size of the fish targeted in the area, some say, this approach seems impractical. “It doesn’t make sense if you go up there to fish and catch a tuna, you have to consume all 150 pounds of it?” said Wespac staff member Eric Kingma. “Why not be able to fully utilize that catch and share it with your family and friends? You’re just going to eat a little sashimi one night? Let’s get real.”
But “environmental groups, the territorial government of American Samoa, and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs have raised concerns over any changes that would enable commercial fishing in places that were set up to be off-limits to longline tuna fleets and others,” says Civil Beat.
Wespac has put off making a decision on the issue until the Trump administration finalizes its review of national monuments.