i 126th Council Meeting Minutes Ala Moana Hotel Honolulu, Hawaii March 14-17, 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE 1. Introductions . 1 2. Approval of Agenda . .. 1 . 3. Approval of 124th and 125th Meeting Minutes . 1 4. Island Reports A. American Samoa . 2 B. Guam . 3 C. Hawaii . 6 D. Northern Mariana Islands . 7 5. Reports from Fishery Agencies and Organizations A. Department of Commerce . 10 1. National Marine Fisheries Service a. Pacific Islands Regional Office . 10 b. Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center . .. 13 2. National Marine Sanctuary Program a. Pacific National Marine Sanctuaries Update . 140 3. NOAA General Counsel SWR . .. 17 B. Department of Interior - Fish and Wildlife Service . 20 C. State Department . …. 22 D. Report from the GBR Marine Park . 24 ii 6. Enforcement/VMS A. USCG Activities . 34 B. NOAA OLE Activities . 38 TITLE PAGE 6.B.1 OLE Report . .. 39 C. Enforcement Activities of Local Agencies . .. .. 40 D. Status of Violations . … . .. 41 E. HI Shallow-set Operational Plan . .. .. 43 F. American Samoa Limited Entry Program . .. .. 46 G. Bottomfish Fishery Permits and Reporting Requirements . .. 47 H. Update on Electronic Logbooks Amendment . .. 48 I. Standing Committee Recommendations . .. .. 48 J. Council Discussion and Action . .. 261 7. Pelagic Fisheries (Domestic and International) A. Bigeye Overfishing Plan . 51 B. Institutional Arrangements for Pelagic Management in the WCPO . .110 C. Am. Samoa & Hawaii Longline Fisheries . 69 1. 2004 Third and Fourth Quarter Reports . 69 2. Shallow-set Longline Set Definition . 77 3. Proposed Changes to Hawaii-based Longline Fishery Closed Area . 79 D. International Issues 1. Prepcon 7/WCFMC1 . 91 2. FAO Technical Consultation on Turtles . 88 3. FAO/COFI . 95 4. Sea Turtle Mitigation . 86 5. IFF3 . 96 E. Recreational Fisheries 1. HMRFS Workshop . .. 96 F. Pelagic Ecosystem Modeling . 88 G. Sea Turtles 1. Biological Opinions and Section 10 Permits . ....100 2. Results from First Year of Conservation Measures . 104 3. Vision for the Future . 105 4. Report on Sea Turtle Workshops: Loggerhead turtle, Bayesian Belief Network, FP Workshop . 106 5. Second Turtle Advisory Committee Meeting . 106 H. Marine Mammals . 108, 257 I. Petition to List Black-footed Albatrosses Under the ESA . 109 J. Plan Team Recommendations . 115 K. SSC Recommendations . 57,115 L. Standing Committee Recommendations . …… . .116,234 iii TITLE PAGE M. Public Hearing . 117 N. Council Discussion and Action . 117, 234, 258 8. Observer Programs A. Report on the Native Observer Program . .134 B. Report on the NWHI Bottomfish Observer . 136 C. Report on the Hawaii Longline Observer Program . 137 D. Report on the American Samoa Observer Program . 138 9. Insular Fisheries A. Bottomfish Fisheries 1. CNMI Bottomfish Management . 122 2. Bottomfish Final EIS . .124 3. Status of Guam’s 50/50 Measure . .124 4. SSC Recommendations . .128 5. Standing Committee Recommendations . 130 6. Public Hearing . 133 7. Council Discussion and Action . 133 B. Precious Coral Fisheries 1. Update on Black Coral Research . 220 2. Precious Corals Draft EIS . 220 3. SSC Recommendations . …………... 220 4. Standing Committee Recommendations . 220 5. Public Comment . 220 6. Council Discussion and Action . 221 C. Crustaceans Fisheries 1. Update on Crustaceans Research . .221 2. Crustaceans Draft EIS . .231 3. SSC Recommendations . .231 4. Standing Committee Recommendations . .232 5. Public Comment . 231 6. Council Discussion and Action . .232 D. Ecosystems and Habitat 1. NWHI Sanctuary Fishing Regulations . 142 a. Process and Alternatives . .149 b. Impact Analyses . 155 c. Report on Public Meetings . 159 iv TITLE PAGE 2. NWHI Science Symposium Report . 161 3. Hawaiian Archipelago Research Program Update . 163 4. Status of NWHI Reserve and Sanctuary Designation . 165 5. Ecosystem Based Fishery Management a. Update on Ecosystem Research . 167 c. Update on Council Ecosystem Workshop . 169 d. Update on Mariana Archipelago FEP Pilot Project . 171 e. Update on Programmatic EIS for FEPs . 172 f. Draft MPA Objectives and Criteria . 172 6. Shark Viewing . 174 7. Coral Reef Plan Team Recommendations . 177 8. SSC Recommendations . ..