NOAA Rejects Wespac’s Proposed Fishing Rule for Hawaii Marine National Monument

Photo: NOAA has rejected Wespac’s proposed rule to allow Native Hawaiian subsistence fishermen to recoup their cost of fishing in the monument by selling their catch. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2017)

Federal officials have blocked an effort to allow the sale of fish caught within the boundaries of Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument under certain circumstances.

A key part of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council’s recommended fishing rules for the monument expansion area just doesn’t work, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Assistant Administrator Nicole LeBoeuf.

Wespac’s proposal conflicts with the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, LeBoeuf told Wespac Executive Director Kitty Simonds in a letter Wednesday. It also runs counter to the goals and objectives of designating a portion of Papahanaumokuakea as a national marine sanctuary.

While NOAA can authorize subsistence fishing in the monument expansion area under a permit for Native Hawaiian practices, LeBoeuf said “such activities must be sustainable and must not serve as a toehold for prohibited commercial fishing.”

LeBoeuf said NOAA will begin to develop its own regulations instead but would consider a revised proposal from Wespac.

Efforts to designate waters surrounding the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national marine sanctuary began in November 2021 […]

Full article: NOAA Rejects Wespac’s Proposed Fishing Rule For Hawaii Marine Monument