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Tuna Size Limits And Bring Your Saltwater Fishing License

It smelled like a vicious fish rumor.  Word on the docks was that The Division of Aquatic Resources (DAR) at its Oahu public meeting, “Statewide Public Meetings Size Limits and Other Regulations for Marine Species,”  tossed an explosive  bobber into the crowd.  Was DAR really trying to bait a 45 pound size limit on yellowfin and bigeye tuna?   Nosing around, it’s clear that size limits will be landed.  That’s not all.  In 2010 national mandatory saltwater sportfishing reporting will begin.  Put your fingers to block your nostrils.  This is the water on ice  in creating the briny Hawaii saltwater fishing license.

HFN contacted the Tuna Tagging Project’s David Itano, research associate at UH School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology.  Itano confirmed the DAR tuna limit talk:
“I attended a DAR meeting last Friday night on catch limits and bag limits. Concentrating on weke, uhu and papio/ulua species. However, they did raise the ahi question….Basically there seems to be interest in raising the minimum size from many sectors but to what and how is the question.”

Tuna size limits for Hawaii is loudly controversial and as wanted as a poorly maintained 130 Penn screaming with a tight drag ready to freeze up on a gorilla ahi.      Pounding against limits are kau kau sport fishermen and the near shore commercial guys.  Even with threats of maiming and misfortune neither throw back 45 pound tuna.  Traditionally, local fishermen are the apex predators for ahi.  Local politicians understand the food chain and until now dare not separate sashimi from chop sticks.    This time it’s different.  Enter the Feds and they eat fish with fork and knives.

NOAA, the Department of Commerce agency charged with fish management,  is changing the local fish politics playing field.  NOAA’s Marine Recreational Information Program (MRIP)  is “being phased in to….provide a reliable, transparent, collaborative set of tools that managers, anglers and others can use to ensure sustainable fisheries and healthy oceans for generations to come.”

MRIP is an expanded national marine creel survey.  Creel survey? You remember those awkward questions at the wash down ramps. Lest we forget the lolo malihini telephone interviews from New Hampshire about what’s a “marhee marhee?”   NOAA realizes the dilemma of bureaucrats with fighting chairs behind desks.  It wants better fishy field samples answers.  Who fishes?  What’s being caught?  How many fish are caught? Where and when are people fishing?  It’s fish catch data collection 101.   MRIPs will “fill survey data gaps, bias, consistency, accuracy, and timeliness.”  How prey tell?

Enter the National Saltwater Angler Registry, “providing a much more efficient and effective route for collecting data.”    All ocean states must register.   But states that have a salt water fishing licensing program can be exempted.

States without saltwater fishing licenses include Connecticut,  New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, the western Pacific, Caribbean territories and Hawaii.
Acceptable licensing or data collection programs get a Memorandum of Agreement with NOAA.  The memorandum allows states to share angler information required by the NOAA’s MRIP registry.  Registry of what?

NOAA says that The National Saltwater Angler Registry “will be a ‘phone book’ of sport fishermen.”  Beginning in 2010, people who live in states without such a program will have to sign up with the Registry each year, and “perhaps” pay a fee.  And “perhaps” postage stamps will go down in price?

Hawaii commercial fishermen already are exempted.  They pay a MRIP’s qualifying license fee of $50 dollars to DAR.  Hawaii commercial fishers face newly implemented stiff fines if they do not report fish catches monthly within 2 weeks of the month’s end.  Having a Hawaii commercial license signs you up to give up all rights against illegal search and seizure.

By law a fee of $25 dollars can be charged by NOAA for Hawaii sport fishermen to register in the “phone book.”   NOAA doesn’t want to get in the saltwater fishing license business.  The State of Hawaii has repeatedly proposed a fishing license only to be shot down by local politicians.  This time for saltwater fishing licenses it’s different.   The state “wen broke” and local politicians can say: “the Feds made me do it.”  The only question left is where do I sign up?

How about the question of whether fish size limits matter?   We contacted Dr. Randy Kochevar, Science Communications, at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station. Dr. Kochevar, who is helping coordinate HIBT’s “Great MArlin Race,”  wrote HFN:  “I found ….some references you might find pertinent and useful to this topic. Here you go:”

A J. Bohnsack published in 2000, an article entitled  “A comparison of the short-term impacts of no-take marine reserves and minimum size limits.”   Here’s an exerpt:
“Despite higher natural mortality for younger age classes, fishing mortality on juveniles can be particularly harmful to a fish population since the fish have not yet reproduced.  This effect is compounded when quotas are based on weight since a larger number of fish are taken.”

Similar size limit findings are found in the 2006 “Bulletin of Marine Science” article “Evolutionary regime shifts in age and size at maturation of exploited fish stocks.  Proceedings of the Royal Society B 273: 1873-1880.” It was written by authors AM de Roos, DS Boukal and L Persson.

Dr. Kochevar says of that article: “There is ample evidence that fisheries management can affect the genetic composition, life history characteristics, and general biology of a population.  These changes can quickly become irreversible (de Roos et al. 2006).”

Kochevar further writes that “Multiple studies suggest that minimum sizes in fisheries should be set at the age of maturation (Smith and Abramson 1990, Purves et al. 2003, Foster and Vincent 2005).    Increased mortality of juveniles has been shown to select for later maturation and decreased reproductive potential (Reznick et al. 1990, Gardmark and Dieckmann 2006).”

So there is a case for fish management size limits.   Will NOAA implement them?

NOAA says that MRIPS “will give saltwater anglers better representation in the policy-making process.”  Looking to what has happened on the Atlantic coast we see that the policy making process likes limits, permits and reports.

According to the NOAA Office of Sustainable Fisheries,  the Recreational Minimum Size Limit for Atlantic bluefin, bigeye and yellowfin is  27 inches.  Size limits beget bag limits: “Regardless of the length of the trip, no more than 3 yellowfin tuna per person may be possessed on board a vessel.”

What about reporting?  Besides the fish license mandated reporting, for the Atlantic there’s recreational hotline reporting:   “Within 24 hours of landing (killing and bringing to shore) any bluefin tuna, blue marlin, white marlin, swordfish, or sailfish that were caught in federal waters, recreational vessel owners must report the landing to NOAA Fisheries. Call 1-800-894-5528.”

Don’t forget the Highly Migratory Species permit.  “Recreational vessel owners fishing for Atlantic HMS must hold a valid Atlantic HMS Angling category permit for their vessel.”  How do you get a permit?   Just call the Atlantic Tunas Information Line at (888) 872-8862 or visit http://www.nmfspermits.com.

All Hawaii tunas, sharks, marlin, mahi mahi, ono, spearfish, sailfish are highly migratory species.  In the Atlantic skipjack tuna are not limited or permitted.  Mahi and ono will likely not be restricted in Hawaii.  It is only a matter of time before marlin and bigeye are restricted and likely yellowfin to follow.   Are you catching more or less aku?  Ask yourself if aku will ever have a size limit, bag limit or permit?   Don’t have an aku answer?  Purse seine one up.

One caveat for NOAA is that Hawaii’s sportfishing tuna are easy to target and easier to manage than the world’s biggest tuna catchers, the purse seiners.  In 2007 224,000 tons of bigeye were caught, mostly by purse, in the Pacific.

HFN contacted Dr. John Hampton a tuna expert with the SPC Tuna Program located in Noumea, New Caledonia.  Hampton and his agency are  keepers of all commercial tuna data for the Western and Central Pacific.  He explained why purse seiner size limits won’t  work:

“A strict minimum size limit on bigeye (or other tunas) is unlikely to work because of the difficulty in separating the small bigeye from skipjack of the same size caught by purse seine (which is the main source of small bigeye tuna catch in the western and central pacific). Even if they could be separated, it would be impossible to return them to the water alive after being caught by purse seine.

Thus far, there have been efforts to reduce the catch of juvenile bigeye by other means, such as reducing the reliance of the purse seine fishery on FADs (which is how most of the bigeye is caught). There may also be other operational measures that could be effective.”

Limits, permits and reports are nothing compared to tuna fishery closures brought on by purse seine over harvesting.  Tuna fishing in the Eastern Pacific, all nations on the entire Pacific Coast of Latin America, will be banned for 59 days in 2009, 62 days in 2010 and 73 days in 2011.  The closure is a directive of the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC).   IATTC is made up of 10 Latin American nations and the United States, Japan, Spain, South Korea, France and Vanuatu.   The United States means NOAA.

The Eastern Pacific tuna ban is “to avoid the catastrophic collapse of valuable stocks of yellowfin (Thunnus albacares), bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) tuna.” Calls are already out for drastic measures for Central and Western Pacific tuna including closures.  NOAA will license Hawaii fishermen to collect the data to enforce the policy restrictions that follow worldwide collapsing tuna schools.

What will the tuna size limit be in Hawaii.  David Itano sheds some light:  “You probably know that DAR has taken on L50 as their mantra in managing coral reef and bottomfish species and even have a big poster listing the L50 sizes of weke, omilu, paka, etc.”

What is L50?  L50 is the measure, usually in terms of length in centimeters, at which half of the the estimated fish population sampled are sexually mature.  The state is assuming that the L50 for tuna is 45 pounds.  According to experts, L50 has some fish management problems like  sexually maturity varies between males and females.  L50 also varies from one one bio-region to another.

Yellowfin tuna have a different L50 when compared to Eastern Pacific,  Atlantic or Australian yellowfin.  Itano relates this can be from different migration paths, local productivity and feed.      In sum Itano says: “Due to the population dynamics of tuna, L50 has never been used as a minimum size guideline for tuna species….”

Ahi will be likely regulated like Atlantic tuna are.  An example is The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas that states:  “Contracting Parties and Co-operating non-Contracting Parties, Entities or Fishing Entities (CPCs) shall take the necessary measures to prohibit the catch, the retaining on board, landing and/or transshipment of any bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) weighing less than 10 kg in the Mediterranean Sea.”   This is 22 pounds in the Mediterranean and 14 pounds in East Atlantic and European waters.

Since NOAA, not DAR, rules pelagics and therefore tuna conservation in Hawaii, they will mimic the Atlantic regulations.  The Hawaii tuna size limit will be at 27 inches.  This is an ahi weighing 14.7 pounds.
Got sashimi?  Make sure it measures 27 inches and don’t forget to bring your Hawaii saltwater fishing license with you.

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Bigeye Tuna Coming to Kohala. A revolutionary bigeye tuna farm off Kohala on the Big Island is approved. Hawaii Oceanic Technology will build an initial 3 Oceanspheres cages holding a total of 60,000 fish.  The tuna will be harvested weighing 100 pounds.

The initial 3,000 tons of tuna will expand to 12,000 tons and have a revenue of $120 million dollars. In 2007 224,000 tons of bigeye were caught in the Pacific. The 2008 value of Hawaii aquaculture sales was a record $34.7 million dollars.  Algae was the largest aquaculture crop at $15.7 million dollars.  The DLNR land board approved the tuna project with a 4-1 vote.

Oceanspheres will be revolutionary unanchored cages made of aluminum, plastic, 165 feet in diameter and submerged 65 feet below the surface.  The cages located in 1,300 feet of water will use solar and ocean thermal energy to keep the cages stabilized and within the 247 acre aquaculture lease site.

Hawaii Oceanic Technology hopes to be a world leader and hatch tuna fry from eggs at the University of Hawaii Hilo aquaculture lab.  The Australian Seafood Co-operative Research Centre’s South Australian hatchery recently made history by hatching tuna that lived to the 100 day mark. This is more than five times what tuna breeders have been able to achieve previously.  The young fish were spawned from adult females that were given hormone injections to facilitate egg production.

As for fish feed Hawaii Oceanic Technology is saying that it won’t feed farmed tuna antibiotics or sustainably harvested fish meal.  To help with the high cost of imported feed, The Oceanic Institute at Makapu’u is developing a feed mill using seafood scraps, produce waste, algae and biofuel plant renderings.  The trial plant is up and running and producing 300 pounds an hour.

A $4 million dollar plant is slated for Hilo that will produce 4 tons an hour.  The feed will be used for fish and animal food.  The plants are modeled after one developed at Kansas State University.  The Hawaii feed plant is funded by USDA, State of Hawaii and local foundations. It will focus on aquaculture.  Half of the current fish waste in Hawaii is buried in landfills.

Not all wanted a fish farm in Kohala.  At least 400 people petitioned DLNR against the project.  The Sierra Club complained about the large scope of the plans and the untested cage propulsion system.  The UH-Manoa Environmental Center was against the project’s EIS’s lack of economic analysis.  Rob Parsons of Maui Tommorrow said it didn’t like that the tuna farm was exporting 90% of its harvest: “This is not a farm.  This is an industrial feed  lot.”

Kauai Sea Scouts Score Trawler. The Kauai Sea Scouts received a 40-foot cruising trawler donation.  The trawler will be taking them on their 2010 summer island chain adventure.  The 1973 Taiwan built trawler was moored in Maui and has a 700 gallon fuel tank  giving it a 2,200 mile range.  There are 13 Kauai sea scouts.  Their leader Larry Richardson says the program gives them sailing experience, boating safety and Sea Scouting skills.   Richardson says there is plenty work to be done but monthly cruises are the goal.  A survey shows that engine runs fine but minor repairs and maintenance is needed.  Two staterooms and heads round out the free boat.
Robots Biomimic Fish Schools. Robots that biomimic fish school movements are being used to avoid vehicle crashes.  The tiny 3-wheeled Eporo robots developed by Nissan can detect obstacles, and avoid collisions while traveling along side each other just like a school of fish. Using laser and radio communications, the robots can change directions. Nissan previously created robots copying bumble bee moves. It hopes the fish school technology will lead to anti-collision cars.
Bellows Community Cleanup Torpedoes. A community clean up day at the beach was torpedoed when real torpedoes were found.  The military said all six of the torpedoes were dummy practice models.  Regardless, the area was supposedly clear all all hazardous waste.  Landfill 24 also known as the Pier Dump was active from 1942 to 1945.   Marines own the land but the Air Force is responsible as former owners.  The landfill is just feet from the beach.

In 2007 Congresswoman Mazie Hirono helped get $2 million in funding to clean the area with 50 percent of the work completed.  Wilson Ho of the Waimanalo Neighborhood Board said originally the military wanted to just cover the site.  “It is a form of betrayal  that we had been lied to.”

None of the munitions had explosives and 8500 tons of debris is being removed from the site. Carrol Cox, of Enviro Watch, was concerned that the debris is just being moved to Nanakuli PVT dump.  Cox said of the “Mutt and Jeff” cleanup move:  “Now you’ve got two sites with contaminants.”

Flippers Inspire Wind Turbines. Whale flippers with their front bumpy edge have inspired a new wind turbine blade.  The bumpy blades defy traditional theories by creating vortexes that help lift and cut stall.  Frank Fish discovered the concept studying a dead whale on the beach.  Fish is a professor of biology and took 2 hours and a Black and Decker crosscut saw to hack off a 300 pound humpback fin cut in three pieces.  In a wind tunnel Fish found that the bumpy fins could be tilted at a higher angle with out stall.  the bumps are called tubercles.  The high angle attack helps whales swim in tight circles for eating fish schools by blowing a net of bubbles which fish don’t cross.   The effect comes from pressure difference of air rushing over the tubercles and air channeled in the troughs between bumps.  Bumpy edged wind turbines are now being manufactured.

Palau’s World Shark Sanctuary. The small Pacific nation Palau is making a 240,000 square mile shark sanctuary.  Palau President Johnson Toribiong said patrolling an area the size of Texas will be difficult with only one boat.  The shark’s that call Palau home are hammerheads, leopards, oceanic whitetips, gray reef sharks, blacktips and nearly 130 other shark species some of which are endangered.  Palau’s exclusive economic zone which extends 200 miles from its shoreline will be covered.

Snickers Rescued While Gulliver Sits. It’s a dog life for cocker spaniel Snickers.  Snickers is lost at sea for 95 days.  Marooned on Fanning island for 4 months he rides a luxury liner to Honolulu before jetting to his new desert home Las Vegas.  But Gulliver the hapless Macaw may be the dog s*** lucky one.  He’s still free on a tropical paradise island.

Jerry and Darla Merrow are living the nightmare of their sailing dreams.  Their 48 foot catamaran Darla Jean encounters mast problems during a 4 day, 40 knot storm 1200 miles from land.  The autopilot dies, mainsail rips, and the engine swamps.  They chart  towards Hawaii limping along with  adequate provisions, solar panels and wind generator.

On day 94 of their trip, 110 miles from Fanning Island they get caught in a current.  It pulls them to small atoll in the Christmas Island group.  Failing to radio hail Coast Guard or Fanning and using a scribbled chart taken from GPS notes, they slam  into the Fanning reef.   Sinking they swam ashore towing Snickers and Gulliver along.

Snickers 3 months adrift with his witless masters is bon voyaged.  Jerry and Darla Merrow are rescued off Fanning by a cargo ship with a sign that reads: “No Pets Allowed.”
Snickers is left on an island atoll where there isn’t a word for “pets.”   Dogs roam wild. And dinner can be small and furry.   A coconut wireless message comes to the atoll saying that Snickers can be euthanized or put into dessert.

Jack Joslin is a sailing lover living in the Las Vegas desert.  He reads about Snickers in the article that the Merrows write in the sailing magazine “Latitude 38.”   The Merrows want to forget and that includes the abandoned Snickers.
Joslin calls the Hawaii humane Society.   He would do whatever it takes to stop the Snicker death sentence.  Joslin’s dog Tucker, a border collie found abandoned roadside at a Navajo Indian Reservation, was recently euthanized after 15 years.  The Norwegian Shipping Lines and the Humane Society work with customs and Hawaii animal quarantine.  Norwegian’s Pride of Aloha will be happy to take Snickers to Aloha tower.  Hawaiian Airlines offers cargo space to Los Angeles where Joslin drives him to his new home lucky town USA, Las Vegas.

Snickers is saved.  That only leaves Gulliver the hapless macaw.  Because the bird is on the endangered list Honolulu won’t accept him as cargo.  So for now the cast off, adrift, shipwrecked, marooned bird will just have to endure paradise for another day.  Gulliver was quoted in the Tarawa, Kiribati newpaper Newstar: “Raaaaah, matey a pirates life for me.”