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Pacific Fisheries Coalition is a project of Hawaii Audubon Society. Thank You!
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Pacific Fisheries Coalition represents a unique collaboration between conservationists and fishermen to promote the protection and responsible use of marine resources through education and advocacy in Hawai`i and the Pacific. A joint project of the Hawaii Audubon Society and the Hawai`i Fishermen's Foundation, PFC has received major support from the PEW Charitable Trusts, the Harold K. L. Castle Foundation, and the Marisla Foundation.
NOAA Listening Session on Open Ocean Aquaculture
Testimony given by Linda Paul, Executive Director for Aquatics, Hawai`i Audubon Society. ...The Hawaii Audubon Society supports setting enforceable National Open Ocean Aquaculture Standards and Guiding Principles, and a national regulatory framework. However such standards will need to be adaptable to the geological, environmental and cultural requirements of the areas where ocean aquaculture enterprises would be located...
An article in a series about inshore fish of Hawaii. The 12-part series is a project of the Hawaii Fisheries Local Action Strategy. Birkeland is talking to a crowd gathered at Bishop Museum about the practice of taking the largest fish from a fishery and allowlng the younger fish to grow. But when it comes to egg production, he says, that might be counterproductive....
Download the Fish Life article, pdf with full color photographs.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN SHARK FINS, & ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED, AND UNREGULATED SHARK FISHING BY LINDA PAUL
The unsustainable international trade in sharks, fins, parts, and derivatives, and the illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing of sharks for the fin trade poses a global threat to wild populations of sharks and rays and to their associated ecosystems...
Download the pdf with full color photographs.
Hawai`i Aquatics Conference - January 10-11, 2009
Sponsored by:
Hawai`i Audubon Society The Hawai`i Aquatics Conferences arose from the realization that aquatics research, management, education, and policy planning consist of many individual and generally uncoordinated efforts by people who rarely interact with one another. Holding a state-wide meeting every two years would provide a regular forum for managers, fishermen, educators, conservationists, policy makers and the general public to share information and ideas on better ways to manage integrated aquatic systems (streams and riparian areas, wetlands, estuaries, lagoons, coral reefs, and nearshore waters) and to explore various resource management approaches.
Download the conference agenda, including presentation abstracts.
IN THE PRESS
Hawaii to have 2 people on marine advisory panel Two people from Hawaii are among 11 new members of the Marine Protected Area Federal Advisory Committee. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Tuesday the Commerce Department has appointed Waianae fisherman William Aila to the committee to represent rural Hawaii and Native Hawaiians. The department appointed Hawaii Pacific University assistant professor K. David Hyrenbach to represent the natural science field. The 30-member committee meets twice a year to advise the federal commerce and interior departments about marine protected areas. (read article, Star-Advertiser)
Group urges use of special hook to avoid hurting dolphins An advisory group says fishermen who use longlines to catch ahi, mahimahi and other fish off Hawaii should use a different kind of hook so they don't accidentally severely injure or kill a rare dolphin species. The False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team says longline fishermen should use a circle hook because dolphins are less likely to get caught on them. (read article, Star-Advertiser)
Group aims to prevent false killer whale deaths A group of experts is meeting in Honolulu this week to discuss ways to prevent Hawaii's longline fleet from accidentally snagging a rare dolphin species. The False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team is made up of fishermen, marine mammal biologists, government officials and environmental activists... The federal government organized the group in response to data indicating the fishery is snagging a large number of the dolphins. (read article, Star-Advertiser)
Lingle signs the nation's first shark-fin ban Hawaii has become the first state to ban the possession, sale, trade or distribution of shark fins in an attempt to prevent the extinction of the ocean predators. Gov. Linda Lingle signed yesterday the bill prohibiting shark fins, which are used in pricey Chinese dishes. Exceptions will be made for researchers who have obtained a permit from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The bill passed the state Legislature earlier this year with broad support... (read article, Star Bulletin)
Gill nets must be banned forever As a fisherman from Kailua, I share a deep respect and affinity for the ocean, borne from a lifetime on the water and ancient traditions of conservation. I feel that we all have a shared cultural and economic interest in the preservation and restoration of our marine environment, so I was dismayed to hear about the recent killing of a native monk seal by drowning in a gill net last Tuesday off Bellows. That was a criminal act, but the real crime is that gill nets are still legal at all and considered by some an acceptable way to fish... In Fiji, the chief banned gill nets and the fish came back. It started with strong government leadership and enforcement and following their lead, recognition by the people that nets posed an unacceptable danger to their cultural and economic well-being. Indeed, wherever gill nets have been banned throughout the world, the fish came back. (read commentary, Honolulu Advertiser)
Senator pushing to get vote on shark fin ban State Sen. Clayton Hee called out supporters for his effort to ban the sale and possession of shark fins in Hawai'i as the deadline nears for the bill to be scheduled for a vote in the Legislature. The bill would make possessing shark fins a misdemeanor in Hawai'i. It's in conference committee and will be dead this session unless it is scheduled for a vote Thursday. They denounced shark finning as a cruel, wasteful practice and said sharks are being harvested at a level that will upset the ecological balance of the ocean. Hee, who is Chinese-Hawaiian, said that despite the popularity of shark fin soup, the debate about the bill does not pit Chinese and Hawaiian cultures against each other because shark fin soup is not a Chinese cultural tradition... (read article, Honolulu Advertiser)
Hawaii's record on shark conservation is shameful Perhaps your readers are unaware that in 2000, Congress passed the Shark Finning Prohibition Act to "eliminate the wasteful practice of killing sharks only for their fins." In 1991, the catch of approximately 2,289 sharks were reported by Hawaiian longline fishing vessels. By 1998, the number of sharks reported caught in Hawaiian waters was up to over 60,000. Reportedly, 98 percent of those sharks were taken only for their fins, which is only about 1 to 5 percent of their body weight. The rest of their carcass was thrown overboard while the shark was still alive... (read commentary, Star Bulletin)
Shark FINale? A state senator wants to ban shark fins in Hawaii, not just for conservation reasons, but because the animal is considered a native Hawaiian deity. But some ethnic Chinese in Hawaii are upset by the proposal because it would outlaw shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy. Proponents of the bill, however, say shark populations are in decline and need more protection. As top predators in the ocean, sharks help keep the ocean's ecosystem in balance. The bill would close loopholes in state and federal shark fishing laws that allow "shark finning" or dumping live sharks with their fins removed back into the ocean to drown, starve to death or be eaten by other fish, supporters say. (read article, Star Bulletin)
U.S. Coast Guard and Navy join forces to wage 'Fight for Fish' Since June the Navy has helped the Coast Guard perform its oldest mission -- protection of natural marine resources -- by allowing its enforcement officers to ride along as Pearl Harbor warships cruise the Pacific Ocean... "Illegal commercial fishing disrupts economic prosperity, which can destabilize many small countries who depend on this industry as an important part of their economy," said Walsh. "History demonstrates that economic instability can lead to larger security threats." (read article, Star Bulletin)
Plan to reduce loss of false killer whales is ordered The federal government said yesterday it will form a group to develop ways of preventing the accidental snagging of a rare dolphin species by the Hawaii-based longline fishery. The fishery is accidentally killing or seriously injuring an average of 7.4 false killer whales each year in waters off Hawaii, the National Marine Fisheries Service said in a Federal Register notice... Fishermen are expected to join marine mammal biologists, environmental activists and government officials in developing a plan to reduce the number of the dolphins getting caught in fishing gear. The group is due to meet in Honolulu Feb. 17-19... (read article, Star Bulletin)
* WHITE PAPER* - Marine Reserve Initiatives in Hawaii 1999-2007 Legislative History of Marine Protected Areas, right-to-fish fight (2007) We are running out of fish, at least wild-caught fish. Such headlines, and the need for "sustainable" fishing, continue to show up in the media. But is "sustainable" fishing even possible? Thirty years ago fisheries managers were taught that "surplus" production could be safely harvested and that all they needed to do was determine what the surplus was. Now we are coming to the realization that surplus production is probably a myth....(HTML)
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands proclaimed a National Monument! Visit the NWHI Network.
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* MOVIE* - One of the Last Wild Places on Earth
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The Hawai`i Fishermen's Foundation was established in 1991 to foster a better working relationship among all ocean users and support sound fisheries management. The Hawai`i Audubon Society, founded in 1939, strives to foster community values that result in protection and restoration of native ecosystem and conservation of natural resources through education, science, and advocacy in Hawai`i and the Pacific. side photo by Commander John Bortniak, NOAA Corps (ret.)
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