272 



Fishery Bulletin 105(2) 



Table 3 



Data sources, available time series data, and data anchor points for catch re-estimation for the Commonwealth of the Northern 

 Mariana Islands. WPacFIN= Western Pacific Fishery Information Network; DFW=Division of Fish and Wildlife. 



' Reported per capita seafood consumption of 0.45 kg/day was reduced by SC^^ to remain a conservative estimate. 



^' In 1984 noncommercial catches represented about 63^f of total catches, corresponding to a noncommercial to commercial ratio of 1.7:1. 



^ By the early 1990s, the noncommercial catch accounted for about 50Vc of total catches. This ratio was carried to 2002. 



tion rate of 26.6 kg, implied a per capita catch rate of 

 16.0 kg for 1950. 



For the 1965-84 period, the difference between re- 

 ported catches and supply/demand estimates was in- 

 terpreted as unreported catches (e.g., unrecorded night 

 fisheries catches in the early 1980s), and were added to 

 the reported catches (since 1965), resulting in the final 

 re-estimated total catches. 



Catch rates We converted re-estimated catches into 

 per capita catch rates using human population statistics 

 and catch per unit area of the depth-defined potential 

 coral reef ecosystem habitat area (sensu Rohmann et al., 

 2005). Given that most nonpelagic catches come from 

 areas relatively close to Guam, we used the potential 

 reef area estimate (to 100 fathom = 183 m depth) for 

 reefs associated directly with the island of Guam (202.8 

 km-), not the reef area estimate for the EEZ (276 km-; 

 Rohmann et al., 2005). The reef area may slightly under- 

 estimate the area for bottom-fisheries, particularly for 

 the post-1980 period, when an increasing proportion of 

 commercial bottomfish catches (up to 30%) likely origi- 

 nated from offshore banks. 



CNMI 



Commercial catches Estimates based on data col- 

 lected by DFW of commercial landings for recent years 

 (1981-2002) were available through WPacFIN. Given 

 uncertainty surrounding the low catches reported for the 

 first few years of this data series, only the period from 1983 

 through 2002 was used (Table 3). Because the collected 

 data relate to Saipan only, WPacFIN uses an adjustment 

 factor of 20% to expand to CNMI total catches, which is 

 thought to account for much of the known under-record- 

 ing of commercial landings. Because there was little local 

 commercial fisheries development in the CNMI until 

 the 1960s, we assumed commercial catches were zero in 

 1960 (Table 3) and linearly interpolated catches between 

 1960 and the 1983 value as reported by WPacFIN. 



Noncommercial catches Noncommercial catches are 

 not reported in CNMI. Although limited monitoring 

 has existed since 1984 for the Saipan lagoon only, 

 these data have not been analyzed and were not avail- 

 able to us. 



1950-83: Subsistence fishing was an important daily 

 activity in the Northern Marianas after WWII, and it 

 was estimated that in the late 1940s the local popula- 

 tion traditionally consumed nearly 0.45 kg/person/day, 

 implying an annual per capita seafood consumption of 

 over 165 kg (Smith^). Although this rate of consumption 

 may appear a high estimate, other Pacific islands have 

 reported similarly high annual per capita consumption 

 rates as recently as the late 1990s, e.g., Kiribati (183 

 kg), Palau (124 kg). Federated States of Micronesia (119 

 kg), or Tuvalu (113 kg) (Gillett"). To account for lower 

 fish consumption by the small nonindigenous population, 

 the likely inclusion of pelagic species in the reported 

 consumption rate, and U.S. military food support after 

 WWII, as well as to remain conservative in our estima- 

 tion, we reduced this rate by over 50% to 72.6 kg/per- 

 son/year (0.2 kg/person/day) as the assumed per capita 

 consumption rate for 1950 (Table 3). Furthermore, given 

 that virtually no vessels were available for exploitation 

 of offshore resources shortly after WWII, we assumed 

 that noncommercial catches in 1950 were based almost 

 exclusively on near-shore resources. We linearly interpo- 

 lated the per capita catch rates between this 1950 level 

 and the catch rate estimated for 1984 (see below) and 

 expanded these to a total noncommercial catch estimate 

 with the use of human population census data. 



1984-2002: In 1984, noncommercial catches were 

 thought to have accounted for approximately 63% of 

 total catches, which corresponded to a noncommercial- 



' Gillett, R. 2002. Pacific Island fisheries: regional and 

 country information. RAP Publication 2002/13, 168 p. Asia- 

 Pacific Fishery Commission, FAO Regional Office for Asia 

 and the Pacific, Maliwan Mansion, Phra Atit Road, Bangkok 

 10200, Thailand. 



