NOAA Keeps Deploying Fishery Observers But With Limits Amid Pandemic - Honolulu Civil Beat
NOAA Keeps Deploying Fishery Observers But With Limits Amid Pandemic
The NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office maintained full observer coverage of swordfish but had to temporarily cease observer coverage in American Samoa. Reading time: 5 minutes.
Considered essential workers, federal fishery observers have continued monitoring Pacific commercial operations during the pandemic, but COVID-19 restrictions have forced them to reduce or even cease operations in some areas.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dispatches observers to travel aboard fishing vessels to monitor the crew’s practices and what they catch – including any bycatch of endangered species. The goal is to preserve fish stocks and protect maritime ecosystems.
PAGO PAGO (CN News Service/Pacnews) â The American Samoa government was dealt a setback Friday last week when the Ninth Circuit Court reversed a decision that blocks large fishing vessels from fishing in a zone around their territory.Â
In 2016, the government of American Samoa claimed in a federal lawsuit the United States shrank a prohibited fishing zone around the South Pacific territory that was meant specifically for local fishers. The zone changed from 50 nautical miles to 12.Â
Boats larger than 50 feet were blocked from fishing and meant to avoid gear conflicts and competition between large fishing operations and local vessels.  Â
American Samoa, through its status as an unorganized sovereign territory, is allowed a special right to maintain its traditions, culture and control of its lands and waters under a treaty signed in 1900 between several island chiefs and the U.S government.Â
Longliners tied up at Honolulu s Pier 38. Photo courtesy HawaiiSeafood.org.
After two decades it’s far past time to make it easier for foreign fishermen who work in the Hawaii longline fleet, industry advocates say.
The lockdown after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., still reverberates in the U.S. Pacific pelagic fishery, with complicated entry rules and procedures for crew from Indonesia and the Philippines who make up the bulk of the fleet’s workforce.
“Prior to 9/11 our crewmen were allowed to fly into” Honolulu to board the fleet of some 140 longline vessels, said Eric Kingma, executive director of the Hawaii Longline Association.