Amendment 15 to the Pelagics Fisheries Management Plan Measures to Monitor and Manage Domestic Pacific Harvests of Pelagic Squid Including an Environmental Assessment July 31, 2008 Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813 i Measures to Monitor and Manage Domestic Pacific Harvests of Pelagic Squid July 31, 2008 Lead Agency: National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administrations National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Regional Office Honolulu, Hawaii Responsible Official: William L. Robinson, Regional Administrator, Pacific Regional Islands Office For Further Information Contact: Alvin Katekaru Kitty Simonds National Marine Fisheries Service Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council Pacific Islands Regional Office 1164 Bishop St., Suite 1400 1601 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 1110 Honolulu, HI 96813 Honolulu, HI 96814 (808) 522-8220 (808) 944-2207 Abstract There are two small near-shore squid fisheries operating out of Kauai and the Island of Hawaii that target Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis and an international large-scale squid jigging fishery on the Pacific high seas which has included U.S.-flagged and foreign fishing vessels. The U.S. squid jiggers have targeted Ommastrephes bartramii in the North Pacific high seas waters and could move into U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters in the Western Pacific Region. Although no resource concerns have arisen to date, current monitoring systems are sub-optimal and there are no mechanisms in place to implement management measures should they become necessary. This amendment to the Pelagics Fishery Management Plan addresses these issues. The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council (Council) recommends improving data on U.S. squid fisheries through new permitting, monitoring and reporting requirements, and by establishing domestic mechanisms for management. Amendment 15 includes: Adding the following pelagic squid species as Pelagic Management Unit Species (MUS): Ommastrephes bartramii, Thysanoteuthis rhombus, and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis, and require ii U.S. vessels greater than 50 ft in length overall that fish for pelagic squid in U.S. EEZ of the western Pacific to obtain Federal permits under the Pelagics Fishery Management Plan, to carry Federal observers if requested by NMFS, and to report any Pacific pelagic squid catch and effort either in Federal logbooks or via existing local reporting systems. The minimum vessel length of 50 feet was selected because this is the approximate lower size limit for commercial squid vessels that fish in the U.S. EEZ and on the high seas, and the smallest size that could readily accommodate observers. Smaller vessels may conduct commercial squid fishing nearer to shore in Hawaii, and their commercial catch is already reported on State commercial catch reports. In other areas, local creel census or commercial sales invoices provide information on the squid catch by smaller vessels. Under this alternative, NMFS would replace previously-used HSFCA logbooks with logbooks specifically designed for squid fishing. Vessels that only fish on the high seas would be required to report their catch and effort using the revised HSFCA logbooks. Squid fishery data would be centralized into a fishery database easily available to resource scientists and managers. These measures, if implemented, would provide additional data and provisions to enable the Council and NMFS to better monitor and manage the U.S. domestic pelagic squid fisheries in the future. Amendment 15 includes an environmental assessment (EA) that describes the existing squid fishery management and environment, and describes the potential environmental impacts of implementing Alternative 3a. This EA tiers off of a previous Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) that was made available to the public in 2005 (70 FR 24038; May 6, 2005) and incorporates by reference the previous environmental impact analysis of five of the alternatives for Amendment 15. New information about future fishery management policies became available after the Final EIS was completed and the additional alternative considered here addresses the new policy information. iii Summary Pelagic squid are targeted by food and bait fisheries throughout the Pacific and are considered by many to be a ‘keystone’ species. Squid are active predators and targeted prey items for many species of fish, mammals, birds and sea turtles. The Council reviewed current data collection systems and found them insufficient. Current data collection is considered insufficient by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Council), which recommedned an amendment to the Pelagics Fishery Management Plan (FMP). The purpose of this amendment is to provide for improved squid fisheries data and establish the framework for future management measures that may be needed to manage squid fisheries within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). An international, large-scale squid jigging fishery (multi-species) exists on the Pacific high seas. This includes both foreign and a few domestic (U.S. flagged) fishing vessels. The Japanese jigging fleet was dominant in the North Pacific, but is rivaled now by a rapidly growing Chinese fleet. The fishery is seasonal with most vessels switching to the Southern hemisphere during the antipodean summer (October – February). Three domestic squid jig vessels fished for squid in the North Pacific for a month or less in the summer of 2003, catching O. bartramii, (red flying squid) on the high seas and offloading it in Japan. Following a disappointing season they transferred to New Zealand’s waters for the 2003 summer/autumn squid season. Fishing for squid was reportedly excellent in the southern hemisphere season in 2004. To date these domestic jigging vessels have fished on the high seas or in the waters of other nations, but the operator anticipates a potential transfer of fishing activity, possibly including to U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone waters (EEZ) around Hawaii, in association with a shift in oceanic conditions. In addition, a small near-shore squid jigging fishery operating out of Kauai targets S. oualaniensis (purpleback squid). This fishery provides food and some bait squid. A tuna handline fishery operating primarily from the island of Hawaii (referred to as the Big Island) also catches S. oualaniensis on jigs; these squid are then used as bait to target yellowfin tuna. Although significant in the 1970s and 1980s, current participation in this fishery is now estimated to consist of one to three vessels. Pelagic squid are widely dispersed and short-lived with relatively high fecundity rates. Populations recover very quickly following declines and are very difficult to overfish by relatively inefficient methods such as jigging (in the past drift gillnets were used but these have been illegal since 1992). For example, stock abundance of O. bartramii in the Central North Pacific was extremely low in 1993, probably due to high fishing rates derived from the driftnet fishery (Yatsu et al., 1999). When the fishery ended in 1992, the O. bartramii stock quickly recovered and abundance was high during 1994-96. Stock abundance was again depressed in 1997, the most prominent El Niño year in this century, but was high in 1998. There is currently no evidence of overfishing of pelagic squid stocks on the high seas or in Hawaii’s waters. However, squid are a major component of the pelagic ecosystem, with large species preying on a variety of fish and invertebrate species and smaller species providing important forage components for species such as swordfish and pilot whales. The keystone role of squid in the forage base of a wide variety of pelagic fish and marine mammals means that they may be an iv important indicator of ecosystem dynamics. Although U.S. fisheries in the northern waters of the Western Pacific catch a tiny fraction of the total international squid production, data provided by monitoring of these fisheries is, as yet, the only indicator available of squid stock status. Fishing by most domestic vessels is managed under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA), which in 1976 established a system of regional fishery management Councils. These Councils develop fishery management plans establishing mechanisms to monitor and manage their “management unit species” (those species managed under each fishery management plan). Annual reports are prepared for each fishery management plan which present and analyze catch and effort data, as well as stock status and other indicators for each management unit species. Based on this and other information, Councils then make management recommendations to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) which, if approved, are promulgated through the publication of proposed and final rules in the Federal Register and their implementing regulations are then codified in the Code of Federal Regulations. Under the MSA the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council consists of the States of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands and has authority over the fisheries in the Pacific Ocean seaward of such States and of the Commonwealths, territories, and possessions of the United States in the Pacific Ocean area. Further as articulated in NMFS’ guidelines for the MSA’s National Standard 3 (Section 301(a)(3), Councils are required to manage stocks to the extent possible throughout their ranges, not only in EEZ waters. This is also important for