Speak—An Open Letter to Hawaii's Fishermen
by: Ed Watamuraposted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 at 11:46 AM
As a newly inducted member to the nations Marine Fisheries Advisory Commission’s (MAFAC) recreational advisory panel, I, along with the other newly inducted member, Dr. Craig Severance of Hilo, had the honor of attending the Saltwater Recreational Fishing Summit in Alexandria, Virginia on April 16th and 17th. The other representatives from the Western Pacific Region were WESPAC Executive Director-Kitty Simonds, Roy Morioka of Honolulu, Rick Gaffney of Kona, Richard Seman of Saipan, Jeff Shively of American Samoa, Dr. Hongguang Ma, and NOAA’s Alvin Katekaru.
The purpose of this summit was to create the initial steps of coordination between the Recreational Fishermen of our nation with the newly appointed stewards of NOAA who are Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; Eric Schwaab, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator; Russell Dunn, National Policy Advisor for Recreational Fisheries and Andy Winer, Director of External Affairs.
With the blessing of Dr. Lubchenco’s commitment to include the interests and issues of our nation’s Recreational Fishermen in the fisheries management process, we proceeded with presentations and roundtable working groups that addressed the top concerns, defined by a pre-summit survey. It was interesting although not surprising to note that the same issues we face here in Hawaii and the other Western Pacific Islands are shared by other Recreational Fishermen across the nation. And yet, we as Pacific Islanders have our own extremely unique attitudes toward fishing as expressed eloquently by Dr. Craig Severance during his presentation to the Summit attendees. He was able to capture and express our prime motivations to fish, which is to provide fish for our families, friends, celebrations, ceremonial events, etc. as gifts, with no expectations of reward. Aside from providing fish for parties and gatherings, I personally have a tradition of having sushi parties for all our friends when I catch enough aku or ahi. Secondarily, if there is enough fish caught, we sell fish to recover our costs, ie. gas,ice,bait, etc. WESPAC has recognized this practice of giving and cost recovery and has deemed it significant enough to name it “Customary Exchange.” Another factor that makes us unique is President Bush’s legacy to create the recently declared Marine National Monuments. These include the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the Marianas Trench, the Pacific Remote Island Area(PRIA), and the Rose Atoll. Many of us Islanders feel that these National Monuments are a federal intrusion on our rights as fishermen, indigenous and otherwise. The recent push by NOAA to expand and emphasize the catch share program also is of deep concern to our island fishermen. The lack of a highly industrialized fishery in our islands should exclude us from a catch share program to manage our fisheries. The longline fishery is already managed by a TAC (total allowable catch) on big eye tuna, established by International Fisheries Management and the Deep 7 bottom fish is also managed by a TAC and a recreational bag limit established by WESPAC. These management measures are already in place and even further diminish the need for a catch share program. Craig also stressed the overwhelming preference of a bottom up and not a top down management regime. This regime is already being practiced by our own WESPAC and he wanted to make sure that NOAA operates in the same manner.
Craig also gave a presentation in lieu of Mike Tokunaga’s absence, about the Barbless Circle Hook Project. I was so glad to hear mention of Kurt Kawamoto’s involvement and subsequent honors and awards due to his hard work on the project. Kurt brought a belief and ability to communicate the importance and infallibility of barbless circle hooks. Through his and Mike’s efforts and all of their volunteers, those beliefs are gaining local popularity and hopefully national popularity.
Many of the presenters and our working group roundtables revolved around 4 prime level “Visions of Success” themes. These were:
1. Improved open communication, cooperation and trusting interactions as anglers, the recreational and commercial industry, managers and scientists work together at the local,regional, and national levels to find solutions for a healthy sustainable fishery.
2. Much improved, robust, timely, and accurate data and science on fisheries, habitat and water quality. Funding of regular, comprehensive stock assessments for all major marine fish stocks. Regular collection of sufficient data to intelligently manage both recreational and commercial fisheries. Better engaging recreational anglers in the collecting of data and the monitoring of fisheries.
3. Fishery management decisions based on a more complete understanding of the social and economic contributions of both the recreational and commercial fisheries communities. Information will be fully integrated into new management plans and be used to set fair allocations between sectors. Greater understanding of recreational fishing will lead to management measures that better fit how anglers fish and provide anglers and the industry with increased predictability and opportunity.
4. Ensure broad access to the greatest possible range of recreational fishing opportunities. Public resources are maintained for the use of the public. Fishing seasons and areas are close/restricted only as required to address specific fishery management objectives, and then are re-evaluated regularly. Management seeks to address the collective needs of the recreational fishing public, rather than solely the single-species harvest limits. Recreational fishing is recognized as a priority use in marine spacial planning efforts with emphasis placed on ensuring access and opportunity.
The roundtable discussions ensued and each table tackled one of these 4 issues. My table engaged in the challenges and solutions of #4. This set of issues really hit home with me because basically it concerns MPA’s (Marine Protected Areas) and specifically addresses the closures of areas and fishing restrictions without proper scientific involvement. It also addresses the need for regular re-evaluation of these closures to ascertain the success or failure of these actions. The State of Hawaii’s BFRA policy on the Deep 7 is the perfect example of the lack of this “Vision of Success”. We were informed that the changes made to the closed areas were the result of an evaluation in 2006. They either moved or expanded areas based on their evaluation of its success or failure. Because almost all of the BRFA’s were either moved or expanded the obvious conclusion is that for the most part the BRFA’s do not work. However, WESPAC’s TAC management regime seems to be working just fine. The bottom fishermen have no problem with compliance and the reduction of 25% of the catch complies with the projected MSY (maximum sustainable yield). The closed season also coincides with the spawning season of the Deep 7.
The results of the roundtable discussions have yet to be published, but my table’s general concerns and possible solutions were in conjunction with most fishermen I come into contact with.
During the final comments period our esteemed Roy Morioka stressed that we see action and not rhetoric. He brought up the findings of the previous Summit in 2005 and that to date no action had been taken. To this end he suggested that in addition to a vision of 10 years, NOAA should be establishing a shorter term timeline based on the length of 4 or 8 years ( the length of office for the present administration), with specific deadlines.
My closing thoughts of this Summit are mixed. I was extremely encouraged by the general optimism shared by all the attendees and the discussions all seemed to lead to a better managed and a much more fair and equitable climate for Recreational Fishermen. But, to this end, there is needed much more science and data collection and all of this requires money, which Dr. Jane Lubchenco stated that there was no additional monies to dedicate. This leads to a reallocation of funds and so far the amount of money allocated to a catch share program that many attendees were vehemently opposed to, is discouraging at best.
Our Islands are unique and to promote this uniqueness we have suggested that we invite the stewards of NOAA to Hawaii to discover for themselves our “island style”. Roy Morioka has already extended an invitation to Russell Dunn, National Policy Advisor for Recreational Fisheries, to join in on the next WESPAC council meeting on June 28th-July 1, 2010 and also to sit in on the Non-Commercial Advisory Group meeting which I will be a part of.
I realize that this was a lot to digest and big mahalos to all of you who patiently read through this, but know this, I will represent us and try to promote our fishing culture as best I can, so that realizing that we are different from the mainland, NOAA will respect this and put policies forth that reflect this uniqueness.
The purpose of this summit was to create the initial steps of coordination between the Recreational Fishermen of our nation with the newly appointed stewards of NOAA who are Dr. Jane Lubchenco, Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; Eric Schwaab, NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator; Russell Dunn, National Policy Advisor for Recreational Fisheries and Andy Winer, Director of External Affairs.
With the blessing of Dr. Lubchenco’s commitment to include the interests and issues of our nation’s Recreational Fishermen in the fisheries management process, we proceeded with presentations and roundtable working groups that addressed the top concerns, defined by a pre-summit survey. It was interesting although not surprising to note that the same issues we face here in Hawaii and the other Western Pacific Islands are shared by other Recreational Fishermen across the nation. And yet, we as Pacific Islanders have our own extremely unique attitudes toward fishing as expressed eloquently by Dr. Craig Severance during his presentation to the Summit attendees. He was able to capture and express our prime motivations to fish, which is to provide fish for our families, friends, celebrations, ceremonial events, etc. as gifts, with no expectations of reward. Aside from providing fish for parties and gatherings, I personally have a tradition of having sushi parties for all our friends when I catch enough aku or ahi. Secondarily, if there is enough fish caught, we sell fish to recover our costs, ie. gas,ice,bait, etc. WESPAC has recognized this practice of giving and cost recovery and has deemed it significant enough to name it “Customary Exchange.” Another factor that makes us unique is President Bush’s legacy to create the recently declared Marine National Monuments. These include the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the Marianas Trench, the Pacific Remote Island Area(PRIA), and the Rose Atoll. Many of us Islanders feel that these National Monuments are a federal intrusion on our rights as fishermen, indigenous and otherwise. The recent push by NOAA to expand and emphasize the catch share program also is of deep concern to our island fishermen. The lack of a highly industrialized fishery in our islands should exclude us from a catch share program to manage our fisheries. The longline fishery is already managed by a TAC (total allowable catch) on big eye tuna, established by International Fisheries Management and the Deep 7 bottom fish is also managed by a TAC and a recreational bag limit established by WESPAC. These management measures are already in place and even further diminish the need for a catch share program. Craig also stressed the overwhelming preference of a bottom up and not a top down management regime. This regime is already being practiced by our own WESPAC and he wanted to make sure that NOAA operates in the same manner.
Craig also gave a presentation in lieu of Mike Tokunaga’s absence, about the Barbless Circle Hook Project. I was so glad to hear mention of Kurt Kawamoto’s involvement and subsequent honors and awards due to his hard work on the project. Kurt brought a belief and ability to communicate the importance and infallibility of barbless circle hooks. Through his and Mike’s efforts and all of their volunteers, those beliefs are gaining local popularity and hopefully national popularity.
Many of the presenters and our working group roundtables revolved around 4 prime level “Visions of Success” themes. These were:
1. Improved open communication, cooperation and trusting interactions as anglers, the recreational and commercial industry, managers and scientists work together at the local,regional, and national levels to find solutions for a healthy sustainable fishery.
2. Much improved, robust, timely, and accurate data and science on fisheries, habitat and water quality. Funding of regular, comprehensive stock assessments for all major marine fish stocks. Regular collection of sufficient data to intelligently manage both recreational and commercial fisheries. Better engaging recreational anglers in the collecting of data and the monitoring of fisheries.
3. Fishery management decisions based on a more complete understanding of the social and economic contributions of both the recreational and commercial fisheries communities. Information will be fully integrated into new management plans and be used to set fair allocations between sectors. Greater understanding of recreational fishing will lead to management measures that better fit how anglers fish and provide anglers and the industry with increased predictability and opportunity.
4. Ensure broad access to the greatest possible range of recreational fishing opportunities. Public resources are maintained for the use of the public. Fishing seasons and areas are close/restricted only as required to address specific fishery management objectives, and then are re-evaluated regularly. Management seeks to address the collective needs of the recreational fishing public, rather than solely the single-species harvest limits. Recreational fishing is recognized as a priority use in marine spacial planning efforts with emphasis placed on ensuring access and opportunity.
The roundtable discussions ensued and each table tackled one of these 4 issues. My table engaged in the challenges and solutions of #4. This set of issues really hit home with me because basically it concerns MPA’s (Marine Protected Areas) and specifically addresses the closures of areas and fishing restrictions without proper scientific involvement. It also addresses the need for regular re-evaluation of these closures to ascertain the success or failure of these actions. The State of Hawaii’s BFRA policy on the Deep 7 is the perfect example of the lack of this “Vision of Success”. We were informed that the changes made to the closed areas were the result of an evaluation in 2006. They either moved or expanded areas based on their evaluation of its success or failure. Because almost all of the BRFA’s were either moved or expanded the obvious conclusion is that for the most part the BRFA’s do not work. However, WESPAC’s TAC management regime seems to be working just fine. The bottom fishermen have no problem with compliance and the reduction of 25% of the catch complies with the projected MSY (maximum sustainable yield). The closed season also coincides with the spawning season of the Deep 7.
The results of the roundtable discussions have yet to be published, but my table’s general concerns and possible solutions were in conjunction with most fishermen I come into contact with.
During the final comments period our esteemed Roy Morioka stressed that we see action and not rhetoric. He brought up the findings of the previous Summit in 2005 and that to date no action had been taken. To this end he suggested that in addition to a vision of 10 years, NOAA should be establishing a shorter term timeline based on the length of 4 or 8 years ( the length of office for the present administration), with specific deadlines.
My closing thoughts of this Summit are mixed. I was extremely encouraged by the general optimism shared by all the attendees and the discussions all seemed to lead to a better managed and a much more fair and equitable climate for Recreational Fishermen. But, to this end, there is needed much more science and data collection and all of this requires money, which Dr. Jane Lubchenco stated that there was no additional monies to dedicate. This leads to a reallocation of funds and so far the amount of money allocated to a catch share program that many attendees were vehemently opposed to, is discouraging at best.
Our Islands are unique and to promote this uniqueness we have suggested that we invite the stewards of NOAA to Hawaii to discover for themselves our “island style”. Roy Morioka has already extended an invitation to Russell Dunn, National Policy Advisor for Recreational Fisheries, to join in on the next WESPAC council meeting on June 28th-July 1, 2010 and also to sit in on the Non-Commercial Advisory Group meeting which I will be a part of.
I realize that this was a lot to digest and big mahalos to all of you who patiently read through this, but know this, I will represent us and try to promote our fishing culture as best I can, so that realizing that we are different from the mainland, NOAA will respect this and put policies forth that reflect this uniqueness.
