Zeller et al : Small-scale fishery catches for U S island areas in the Western Pacific 



269 



recreational fishing) has been subject to limited moni- 

 toring since 1984 and day-time creel surveys have been 

 undertaken for the Saipan lagoon only. However, these 

 data have not been analyzed or expanded for estima- 

 tion of CNMI-wide noncommercial catches and were 

 not available to us. 



American Samoa American Samoa is the only U.S. ter- 

 ritory south of the equator (14°20'S, 170°W, Fig. 1), and 

 its small-scale fisheries consist of shore-based and boat- 

 based sectors (Zeller et al., 2006a). A clear separation 

 between commercial and noncommercial aspects in each 

 fishery is difficult because fish from either sector can be 

 sold or retained for personal consumption (Craig et al., 

 1993). The existing catch data on the predominantly 

 commercial boat-based sector by the American Samoa 

 Department of Marine and Wildlife Resources (DMWR) 

 has been reported through WPacFIN since the early 

 1980s. The noncommercial sector, especially as relating 

 to shore-based fisheries, is not monitored and catches 

 are not reported on a regular basis. However, a short- 

 lived DMWR survey of shore-based fisheries, as well as 

 other local studies, was conducted sporadically on this 

 sector between 1980 and 2002. Recently, total nonpelagic 

 fisheries catches for both sectors were re-estimated back 

 to 1950 by Zeller et al. (2006a), and these findings will 

 be relied upon in the present study. 



Aims 



The purpose of our study was to assemble available 

 information and data on catches of the small-scale, 

 near-shore fisheries for nonpelagic species of the major 

 U.S. flag-associated island areas in the western Pacific 

 for 1950-2002, namely Guam, the Commonwealth of the 

 Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), and, in summary 

 form, for the previously estimated catches for Ameri- 

 can Samoa (Zeller et al., 2006a). Although American 

 Samoa's catches were published separately (Zeller et al., 

 2006a), they are summarized in the present study for 

 completeness. The U.S. State of Hawaii was excluded 

 from present considerations because the economic, social 

 and noncommercial fishery conditions and data dif- 

 fered substantially from those of the other islands, 

 and required a different method for reconstructing 

 the data. Also excluded was the information available 

 for the limited (predominantly recreational) catches 

 taken on the Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIAs or 

 minor islands) reported on elsewhere (Zeller et al.'^). 

 The aim was to derive estimates of likely total removal 

 of marine resources for the 1950-2002 period. The 

 present re-estimation excludes pelagic species (i.e., 

 tunas and billfishes) that are the target of large-scale 

 fisheries, even if these species are also caught by small- 

 scale, local sectors. Small-scale fisheries in our study 

 targeted both deeper water species (such as lutjanids, 

 lethrinids, and serranids), as well as coastal, reef- 

 associated small pelagic species (such as carangids, 

 including the culturally important big-eye scad [Selar 

 crumenophthalnius]). 



Materials and methods 



The catch re-estimation approach utilized here consists 

 of six general steps based on work done for the Western 

 Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Zeller et 

 al.3) and Zeller et al. (2006a): 



1 Identification of existing reported catch times series, 

 e.g., local reports, and data presented by the Western 

 Pacific Fishery Information Network (WPacFIN^) on 

 behalf of local agencies; 



2 Identification of sectors, time periods, species, gears, 

 etc. not covered by (1), i.e., missing catch data, via 

 literature searches and consultations; 



3 Search for available alternative information sources 

 to supply the missing catch data in (2), through 

 extensive literature searches and consultations with 

 local experts; 



4 Development of data anchor points in time for miss- 

 ing data items, and their expansion to island- or 

 country-wide catch estimates; 



5 Interpolation for time periods between data anchor 

 points for total catch, generally with per capita catch 

 rates; and 



6 Estimation of final total catch times series estimates 

 for total catch, combining reported catches (1) and 

 interpolated, island-expanded missing data series (5). 



Island areas differed in terms of fisheries sectors, 

 their coverage of reported data, and available alter- 

 native information. Details of available alternative 

 information sources for each island area, all reference 

 material for data sources used (non-refereed publica- 

 tions), and the specifics of data anchor point esti- 

 mation can be found in a report to the U.S. Western 

 Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (Zeller 

 et al.3). 



Guam 



Catches for both boat- and shore-based fisheries sectors 

 have been estimated by DAWR since the mid-1960s 

 through the use of two creel surveys (offshore survey 

 and inshore survey). In the more recent years, DAWR 

 applied expansion methods to extrapolate island-wide 

 catch estimates from creel survey data. The fish weir 

 catch estimates were likely incomplete. 



Because domestic fisheries in Guam are generally 

 part commercial, part subsistence, and part recre- 

 ational, the re-estimation approach taken was not by 

 differentiation of the commercial and noncommercial 

 sectors, but rather by following the creel-survey distinc- 

 tion between boat-based (offshore survey) and shore- 

 based (inshore survey) estimations of catches (Table 1). 

 Given our focus on nonpelagic fisheries, we excluded 

 the trolling section for large pelagic species from the 

 offshore catch reports and retained bottom-fishing and 

 boat-based spear-fishing catches. Comparisons of sup- 

 ply and demand, with the use of reported catch (in- 

 cluding pelagic taxa), as well as estimates of imported 



