[Below is the Council’s full response submitted to Honolulu Civil Beat, including the section (highlighted in yellow) that Civil Beat redacted.]

In a series of recent articles and an editorial, the Honolulu Civil Beat made several allegations against the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, creating a false impression that Council members and staff operate with “limited oversight” and violate federal law. The Civil Beat called for an investigation into Council operations to address these purported issues.

These claims of impropriety are baseless and ignore the myriad laws, regulations, and policies that Council members and staff follow to properly implement the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA), our nation’s primary fisheries law, and related statutes.

This is not the first time the Council has come under attack from the Civil Beat or special interest groups for carrying out the requirements of the MSA. Similar criticisms resulted in a formal Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit of the Council from 2008 to 2009—an investigation that included multiple GAO auditors working for weeks in the Council office. The GAO’s final report vindicated the Council against allegations of improper lobbying, conflicts of interest, the use of and accounting for federal funds, and council operations. It also provided some recommendations to improve transparency, which the Council has incorporated.

Criticisms are a fact of life for the Council as it implements the MSA. Fishery management in Hawaii is a controversial subject. The Council, and the scientists it employs, must analyze complex scientific issues and make tough management recommendations to protect and utilize marine resources. This is a difficult task, particularly given the vast area within the Council’s jurisdiction and the many stakeholders with different interests in our fishery resources.

What these articles and the routine criticism by special interest groups overlook is the many successes the Council has had in balancing the complexities of environmental stewardship and commercial use, which are both recognized as important considerations by the MSA. The Council’s mission is to ensure fisheries are managed at optimum yield, consistent with the conservation needs of fish stocks and protected species. To that end, the Council is doing its job and doing it well.

Gov. Ralph Torres, CNMI-R, in October 2018 received a sub-award of $250,000 to fund a fisheries training and demonstration program. “We have a really good fishing industry here, but we need a lot of technical assistance for our fisheries and our fishermen on how to fish properly commercially, how to protect and preserve the fish and how to market the fish,” he said. “We’ve been collaborating with Wespac for many years, and I am very pleased to see this project moving forward. I believe that this will help with other fishing initiatives throughout the region. We are all very excited about this project and look ahead at sustainable fishery resources and training for the benefit of our community,” Gov. Torres added.

The Civil Beat implied that some MCP projects funded by the WPSFF were selected to benefit specific Council members. Here are the facts:

• John Gourley was not a Council member at the time that his company, Micronesian Environmental Services, received a contract. Additionally, one of the identified grants came from the competitive Saltonstall-Kennedy grant program, not through the WPSFF.
  
  
• Dean Sensui was not a Council member when he received funding to develop a new technique he had conceptualized for observing fish underwater without human interference and to test it in a project that compared Western science and traditional knowledge around a ko‘a (natural fish aggregation site).
  
  
• In American Samoa, Malaloa was identified as the best spot for longline dock expansion in January 2015, nearly two years before Christinna Lutu-Sanchez, one of several longline vessel owners in American Samoa, and I became Council members.
  
  
• The Guam Organization of Saltwater Anglers and Tom Camacho, not Manny Duenas, pursued the Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant fishing platform in Hagatna, a project strongly endorsed by Guam Gov. Eddie Baza Calvo, and dedicated funds from a grant they received to pay a portion of the initial development and construction. Duenas, president of the Guam Fishermen’s Cooperative Association, did not benefit from the fishing platform that helps people catch fish for themselves.

The Civil Beat stated that the Council is “mucking around in what is clearly state policy,” citing the Puwalu (conference) involving Native Hawaiians concerned with traditional and customary fishing practices. The Council frequently works with community organizations to increase understanding of the region’s fisheries and support the MSA’s public engagement goals. The Puwalu had grassroots support, involving kupuna (elders) from every island, and was a joint undertaking by the Council and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs. It was co-funded by Kamehameha Schools, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Office of State Planning, and the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

More about ecosystem-based fisheries management in the region and the Puwalu is available in books by Edward Glazier, published by Wiley-Blackwell (2011) and by Palgrave Macmillan (2019). Additional references include the Aha Moku article by Timothy Bailey in Fishing People of the North (Alaska Sea Grant 2012) and Conservation of Pacific Sea Turtles (University of Hawaii 2011).

Finally, the Council works closely with the NOAA Pacific Islands Regional Office and NOAA Office of General Counsel to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and other information requests, including requests from the Civil Beat. These requests are addressed in the order received and often take substantial staff resources and time to process. Requests that are broad in scope (cover lengthy periods and/or across programs) will take much longer than requests that are narrowly focused. The Council will continue to respond to FOIA and other requests and encourages the public to review online resources, such as the Council’s website, for more information about the Council and its activities.

About the Author

Taotasi Archie Soliai of Pago Pago, American Samoa, serves as the chair of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. He is currently the human and government relations manager at StarKist Samoa and previously served as a member of the American Samoa House of Representatives (2007-2014). He has been a recreational fisherman for decades, and his primary fishery interest is sustainability.

Council Executive Director Kitty Simonds (3rd from left) in American Samoa with Lt. Gov. Lemanu Peleti Mauga (far left) and other members of the administration and Fono (legislature) at the 2013 opening of the Faga`alu Park Boat Ramp. This project was funded by the Council through a WPSFF contract and established in partnership with American Samoa’s Departments of Marine and Wildlife Resources, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation.