How long does it take to respond to a request for records under the federal Freedom of Information Act? In the case of a request filed more than two years ago by Environment Hawai`i,seeking travel records for Kitty Simonds, the executive … Continued
When Congress passed and President George Bush approved the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, no one seemed to notice that language appropriating $6.7 million in compensation to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands commercial bottomfish and lobster fishers didn’t really jibe with reality. … Continued
Final Bigeye Rule: The National Marine Fisheries Service has issued a final rule to implement a quota on bigeye tuna caught in the western Pacific by the Hawai`i longline fleet. The rule, published in the December 7, 2009, Federal Register, took effect December … Continued
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, which recommends management measures for fisheries in the U.S. waters of the western and central Pacific Ocean, is finding that as resources diminish, managing what remains is getting harder and harder. The discussions … Continued
The international limit on the Hawai`i longliners’ catch of valuable bigeye tuna in the waters of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean has been pretty well shredded with the recent amendment to the pelagic fishery management plan of the Western … Continued
The National Marine Fisheries Service has given final approval to a play to allow Hawai`i longline vessels to attribute part of their catch of bigeye tuna to Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. The proposal is … Continued
The meeting held in the conference room of the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Honolulu office on the afternoon of January 29 must have been a doozy. As a result of what he claimed was uncivil behavior of a participant, … Continued
Every penny spent by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council comes from federal coffers. Yet tracking how those funds are spent would seem to demand the combined skills of an accountant, a sleuth, and, most of all, a psychic. And … Continued
The Hawai`i longline fishery faces a conundrum. How can it get around a limit on its haul of bigeye tuna without appearing to violate the international treaty under which that limit was set? The Hawai`i Longline Association, whose members represent … Continued
On June 14, U.S. District Judge David Ezra denied without prejudice the Hawai`i Longline Association’s (HLA) appeal of a January settlement between the National Marine Fisheries Service and environmental groups regarding interactions between the shallow-set longline fishery and threatened loggerhead … Continued