Fishery Council Prepares Plan To Manage Coral Reef Ecosystems

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The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council has begun efforts to develop a fishery management plan for coral reef ecosystems in U.S. waters in the Pacific. A plan team, made up of scientists and natural resource managers from the National Marine Fisheries Service, the state of Hawai`i, Guam, American Samoa, and Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, had its first meeting on September 30 in Honolulu.

When the process is completed, the plan will have the force and effect of federal regulation.

Federal jurisdiction in most coastal areas of the United States does not start until three miles out from shore, extending then to 200 miles. This would mean, in Hawai`i, that most areas of coral reef in the main Hawaiian islands would be excluded from the plan. Bob Schroeder, a biologist on the council staff, explained that the plan could be drafted to address coral reef ecosystems both within and without the three-mile limit of state waters. Such a plan was created for the U.S. waters in the Caribbean, he noted. In the Pacific, the plan could be advisory for areas outside federal jurisdiction.

(In the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the government has claimed jurisdiction over the entire 200-mile exclusive economic zone, a claim that the federal government disputes. In most areas of Guam, the territorial government controls waters out to three miles. In other U.S.-flagged areas, such as around Johnston, Midway, and Wake islands, there are no territorial waters; federal jurisdiction begins at the high-water mark. In the case of Palmyra, the federal government asserts rights up to the high-water mark, but the private owners have disputed this.)

Members of the Plan Team provided an overview of coral reef resources around the Pacific. In American Samoa, reported Plan Team member Nancy Daschbach, reefs are still thought to be extremely healthy, even if not terribly abundant. Nighttime commercial fishing near shore has left the water empty of larger fish. The government has developed regulations that would eventually prohibit the practice; they remain in draft stage, Daschbach said. At Fagatelle Bay marine sanctuary, where Daschbach is manager, some dynamite fishing is thought to have occurred. The source of the dynamite is generally thought to be the public works department, just as when reef bleaching occurs, the source usually turns out to be the public water works. On the South Pacific island of Chuuk, someone said, fishermen have been known to use unexploded ordnance left over from World War II to explode the reefs — sometimes at the cost of one or two fingers (if the fisherman is lucky).

One problem experienced in American Samoa last year, believed to result from the El Nino Southern Oscillation, was that extremely low tides left reef flats exposed, so that the top layer of reef was “cropped.”

The coral reefs of Guam are in bad shape, even though they have not been heavily fished, according to Chuck Birkeland. Todd Pitkik, also of Guam, reported that scientists had sought a ban on the export of aquarium fish, but the Guam Department of Agriculture refused to go along. Four marine reserves have been designated on Guam; to phase in restrictions on use of resources, an “educational period” will take effect from January to August 1999. Spear fishing by scuba-equipped divers is a growing concern on Guam, Pitlik reported, as is turtle poaching.

Dave Gulko of the Hawai`i Division of Aquatic Resources told the team of the interception of a shipment of live rock and coral from the Honolulu airport, packed in boxes labeled dried beef. The thousands of pounds of contraband they contained are thought to have been taken from the northern part of Kaneohe Bay or nearby Kualoa. The case is difficult to prosecute, Gulko said, “because of the need to show that there was an intent to sell. We couldn’t charge them with illegal harvest, since no one saw them taking it.”

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands wants to prohibit all scuba take of fish, a move that has the support of the dive industry, said Katherine Miller, Plan Team member from CNMI. Miller also noted that the CNMI government had expressed its concerns over the draft environmental impact statement for military training in the Marianas, recently released by the U.S. Navy. Among other things, the government is concerned that Navy exercises involving landing craft could create surf waves capable of breaking coral in shallow water, even if the craft themselves do not hit the reef. One of the areas proposed for exercises has recently been designated a marine reserve.

Midway Atoll is under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife Service, which has a contract with Midway Phoenix Corp. to operate the area as a tourist destination. According to Gulko, yachts were now welcome to put into port at Midway. This, he said, creates the possibility that, as they are in transit, they could impact the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Additionally, he reported, Midway was now considering letting cruise ships into the harbor.

Also, Midway Phoenix was reported to be interested in exploiting reef fishes for the aquarium trade. Apparently Midway Phoenix is especially interested in collecting the masked angel fish, which is highly valued by aquarium fish collectors.

Work on the Coral Reef Ecosystem Management Plan is ongoing. A progress report will be made at the next full council meeting, December 1-3, at the Hawai`i Prince Hotel in Honolulu.

* * *
Ocean Management Plan Undergoes Revision

The Hawai`i Ocean Resources Management Plan — ORMP, for short — was first published in 1991. Four years later, it was adopted as state policy by the 1995 Legislature with Act 104. But today, it continues to remain more of a lofty plan than a guide to realized policy, with implementation hampered by fiscal restraints as well as the sheer extensiveness of the plan.

The Coastal Zone Management program hired Kem Lowry of the University of Hawai`i Department of Urban and Regional Planning to conduct a follow-up study to interview many of those polled earlier in an effort to identify reasons for the plan’s failure in certain areas. Lowry and his researchers then prepared draft recommendations for revisions to the 1991 plan.

Lowry, who was one of the original authors of the ORMP, presented his research team’s findings to the Marine and Coastal Zone Management Advisory Group at its September 18 meeting. Among the common problems he and his group found were lack of public education, few resources for enforcement, no vision of the value of natural resources, difficulty in obtaining information about resource management, and the lack of cooperation among agencies. This last, Lowry said, “is perhaps a touchier issue, because it speaks to the division of power and authority in the legislative bodies and administrators.”

He continued: “One of the themes that we heard consistently was that the … involvement of legislators in setting detailed management standards has the effect of doing two things: One, it makes resource management a much more political issue and it also de-emphasizes the science of resource management.”

Chip Fletcher, a professor at the University of Hawai`i and a member of its Coastal Geology Group, commented on Lowry’s findings, stressing his view that the overarching need was for the public to be educated about the need to take care of its ocean resources.

“We are not going to cause any significant change in how we manage these resources until there is a huge broadcast to the entire public and they form the groundswell that we have to respond to,” he said.

MACZMAG members are now drafting their own recommendations for revisions to the ORMP, which will be presented at the next meeting, November 20. The new plan will then be submitted as a final legislative report to the 1999 Legislature.

For further information on the process of revision of the ORMP, call the Coastal Zone Management program at 587-2846 (O`ahi).

— Heidi Guth

Volume 9, Number 5 November 1998

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