Hawai'i Pelagic Handline Fisheries: History, Trends, and Current Status
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Hawai‘i Pelagic Handline Fisheries: History, Trends, and Current Status - Final Background Document - Prepared for the WESTERN PACIFIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL by Impact Assessment, Inc. Pacific Islands Office [email protected] March 2007 IMPACT ASSESSMENT, INC. Pacific Islands Office 2950 C Pacific Heights Road Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 Mr. Paul Dalzell, Senior Scientist Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 1164 Bishop Street, Suite 1400 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 March 8, 2007 Dear Mr. Dalzell, We are pleased to submit this final report for the project titled Background Document on the Offshore Handline and Shortline Fishery (Phase I). Per WPRFMC Contract 06-WPC-11, the report was previously delivered in draft form for distribution at the Council’s 91st Science and Statistical Committee Meeting, and at the 131st Council Meeting. We would like to express our appreciation for the opportunity to assist the Council in better understanding the history and contemporary status of the offshore handline fleet in the Main Hawaiian Islands. Additional description and analysis of the fleets will be provided in our FY 2007 report to the Pelagic Fisheries Research Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Mahalo nui loa for your diligent monitoring of this important project. We look forward to undertaking similar research in support of the Council’s sustainable fisheries management objectives throughout the Western Pacific. Sincerely, Edward W. Glazier, Ph.D. Principal Investigator Acknowledgements We wish to thank and acknowledge the many fishery participants who are taking part in this ongoing research, and the following individuals who have contributed to the development of this report: Libby Stevens, artist and editorial consultant; Janna Shackeroff, Duke University; David Itano, University of Hawaii, Pelagic Fishery Research Program; Courtney Carothers, University of Washington and NOAA Fisheries; Craig Severance, University of Hawaii at Hilo; Reggie Kokubun, Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources; Stewart Allen, NOAA Fisheries; Kyle Ward, NOAA Fisheries; Walter Ikehara, NOAA Fisheries; and Rusty Scalf, GIS Consultant. i Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 1.1 Administrative Background....................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Information Need and Rationale................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Historical Overview .................................................................................................................. 3 1.4 Purpose and Objectives.............................................................................................................. 4 1.5 Research Methods...................................................................................................................... 5 1.6 Organization of the Document .................................................................................................. 5 1.7 Prefatory Note on the Human Dimensions Focus of the Research and Report .......................6 2.0 A Brief History of Handline Fishing in Hawai‘i: ~300 A.D. to 1985 .................................7 2.1 The Pre-Contact Era................................................................................................................... 7 Ancient Beginnings............................................................................................................. 7 Fishing and Fish Central to Life and Social Organization..................................................... 8 The Importance of Pelagic Species....................................................................................... 8 Pelagic Methods and Gear ................................................................................................... 9 Fishing Vessels.................................................................................................................. 11 Increasing Social Complexity ............................................................................................ 12 Offerings and Regulations.................................................................................................. 13 Religious Rites and the Value of Aku................................................................................. 14 2.2 Continuation and Change Approaching and Entering the 20th Century ..................................... 15 Loss of the Ahupua'a System ............................................................................................. 15 The Persistence of Native Hawaiians ................................................................................. 15 2.3 Japanese Immigrants and the Advent of Ika-Shibi Fishing in Hawai‘i ....................................... 17 Introductions ..................................................................................................................... 17 World War II..................................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Hawai‘i Small-Boat Pelagic Handline Fisheries: Post-WWII to Mid-1980s.............................. 20 Technological Change and Population Growth .................................................................. 20 The Ika-Shibi Fishery: 1973-1985...................................................................................... 22 The Daytime Palu ahi Fishery: WWII to 1985 ................................................................. 27 Advent of the Cross Seamount and Weather Buoy Handline Fisheries............................ 32 3.0 Recent Trends in Hawai‘i Pelagic Handline Fisheries .......................................................34 3.1 Ika-Shibi and Palu Ahi Operations and Trends: 1986-2004 ................................................... 37 Participation, Catch, and Effort per HDAR Data.............................................................. 37 Spatial Patterns of Reported Landings, Effort, and Residence ......................................... 39 3.2 Establishment of the PFAD Fishery ........................................................................................ 49 3.3 Recent Trends in the Cross Seamount and Weather Buoy Fishery.......................................... 56 4.0 Summary Analysis and Conclusions ....................................................................................59 4.1 Social, Economic, and Temporal Dimensions of Change ..................................................... 59 Fishing and Change in Early Hawai‘i .............................................................................. 59 Handline Fishing and Social Change in the First Part 20th Century ................................ 61 The Land-Based Job-Commercial Fishing Dynamic........................................................ 62 Regarding Recent Trends.................................................................................................. 63 Innovation and Persistence ............................................................................................... 65 Concluding Management Considerations ...................................................................67 ii References.....................................................................................................................................68 Appendix A: HDAR Handline Trip Reporting Form and Instructions .......................................74 Appendix B: David Itano's Article on Deep-Set Short Gear .......................................................75 List of Tables, Insets, and Figures Table 2-1 Reported Ika-Shibi Landings: 1973-1975 .................................................................................... 22 Table 2-2 Reported Ika-Shibi Landings by Species: 1980............................................................................ 23 Table 3-1 Select Characteristics of Hawai‘i Small-Boat Commercial Operations: 1995-1996................. 37 Inset A The Ika-Shibi Technique................................................................................................................ 26 Inset B Palu Ahi Techniques....................................................................................................................... 21 Inset C PFADs and Associated Methods .................................................................................................... 55 Inset D Deep-Set Horizontal Gear .............................................................................................................. 58 Figure 3-1 Trend of Overall Effort in the MHI Handline Fishery: 1984-2004.......................................... 35 Figure 3-2 Catch Composition for the MHI Handline Fishery: 1984-2004................................................ 35 Figure 3-3 Tuna Catch per Unit Effort: MHI Handline Fishery, 1984-2004.............................................. 36 Figure 3-4 MHI Reported Commercial Landings by Ika-Shibi Method: 1986-2004 ................................ 38 Figure 3-5 General Trends in Ika-Shibi Effort: Reported Trips 1995, 2000, 2004.................................... 38 Figure 3-6 Landings and Participation in the Palu Ahi Fishery: 1986-2004 ............................................. 39 Figure 3-7 MHI Commercial Small-Boat Annual Landings by Method: 1986-2004................................ 40 Figure 3-8 Spatial Patterns