Press Releases
Press Release – From FestPac to West Pac, Guam Governor Remains Focused on Ocean Resources, Island Ancestors
TUMON BAY, GUAM (9 June 2016) The Honorable Eddie Calvo, Governor of Guam, opened the 166th meeting of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council today in Tumon Bay, Guam, with words of respect and love for the ocean. “We have limited land spaces and a...
Press Release – Fishery Management Council Acts on CNMI Request to Help with Sea Turtle, Shark Issues
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLAND (7 March 2016) The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council today in Saipan responded to the request by Victor Hocog, Acting Governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), for assistance to...
Press Release – CNMI Lt. Gov. Hocog Asks Fishery Management Council to Collaborate on Three Key Issues
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLAND (6 March 2016) Acting Gov. Victor Hocog of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) today asked the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to work with the Commonwealth to address regulations that...
Council Sends Letter to President Obama about NWHI monument expansion request
On April 8, 2016, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council wrote to President Obama regarding a January 2016 request to expand the expand the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument (PMNM) around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). Click...
Press Release – US Pacific Island Fishery Scientists to Review 2015 Fishery Performance
HONOLULU (7 April 2016) Fishery scientists from American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Hawaii will join NOAA scientists next week to review last year’s performance of federally managed fisheries in the Western Pacific Region....
Press Release – Fishery Management Council Addresses Fisheries of American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam (17 March 2016)
HONOLULU (17 March 2016) The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, this week in Honolulu, recommended a suite of management decisions and recommendations for the near and offshore fisheries of American Samoa, Hawaii and Guam. They include the following,...
Press Release – NOAA Fisheries Deputy Assistant Administrator Lauds US Fishery Management Councils (14 March 2016)
HONOLULU (15 March 2016) Samuel D. Rauch III, NOAA Fisheries Deputy Assistant Administrator for Regulatory Programs, praised the U.S. Regional Fishery Management Councils as the "key for the success" of both "environmental and economic progress" in the nation's...
Press Release – Distinguished Fisheries Professor Ray Hilborn Discusses Sustainability of World Fisheries with Hawaii Fishing Community
HONOLULU (11 February 2016) Professor Ray Hilborn of the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, and author of Overfishing: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press), yesterday in Honolulu addressed the topic of “Sustainability of...
Press Release – Feds Approve Exemption of US Longline Vessels in American Samoa Large Vessel Prohibited Area as Recommended by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council
HONOLULU (29 January 2016) Effective today, US federally permitted longline vessels in American Samoa that are over 50 feet in length can fish for pelagic species in certain areas of the American Samoa Large Vessel Prohibited Area (LVPA). The National Marine Fisheries...
Press Release – Fishery Managers Agree on Catch Limits for US Pacific Territories Bottomfish, Bigeye Tuna
UTULEI, AMERICAN SAMOA (23 October 2015) The bottomfish annual catch limits (ACLs) in American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) should be equal to their acceptable biological catch (ABC), the Council deemed yesterday as it...