268 



Fishery Bulletin 105(2) 



(Pauly-). Here, we report on work undertaken for the 

 U.S. Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management 

 Council to account for unreported catches {Zeller et 

 al.3). 



Island areas 



Guam Guam (13°28'N, 144°45'E) is the southernmost 

 island in the Mariana Archipelago (Fig. 1), and has a 

 potential coral reef ecosystem habitat area to 100 fathom 

 (183 m) depth, within an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), 

 of approximately 276 km^ (including offshore banks). Of 

 this area, 202.8 km- are associated with the island of 

 Guam directly (Rohmann et al., 2005). Guam's coral reef 

 fisheries are both economically and culturally important 

 and have been historically significant in the diet of the 

 human population (Hensley and Sherwood, 1993). Limi- 

 tations were placed on the indigenous population with 

 regards to any large-scale fisheries development during 

 the Japanese occupation period (Smith^). These limita- 

 tions, together with the destruction of the Japanese 

 fishing infrastructure at the end of WWII, resulted in a 

 heavy reliance on subsistence fisheries in Guam into the 

 late 1940s. The near-shore coral reefs around Guam are 

 considered heavily fished and degraded, and concerns 

 about overfishing were raised as early as 1970 (Hensley 

 and Sherwood, 1993). Most of the less accessible offshore 

 banks, however, appear to be in better condition. 



Guam's domestic fisheries can be divided into two 

 sectors (ignoring tuna transshipment and distant water 

 fleet catches of large pelagics): small boat-based fisher- 

 ies (Myers, 1993) and shore-based fisheries (Hensley 

 and Sherwood, 1993). Because there are few full-time 

 commercial fishermen, there is little distinction between 

 commercial, subsistence, and recreational fishing, and 

 many fishing trips contribute to all three segments. In 

 the past, tidal fish-weirs were used in Guam, although 

 their numbers declined over the decades, and the use 

 of weirs ceased in 1989. 



Catch data for both fisheries sectors have been esti- 

 mated by the Guam Division of Aquatic and Wildlife 

 Resources (DAWR) since the mid-1960s through the use 

 of two separate creel surveys: a marina-based boat-cen- 

 tered creel survey (offshore survey), and a shore-based 

 creel survey (inshore survey). The reporting of fish weir 

 catches was mandated as part of weir-operating permits 

 but the data were likely incomplete. Various expansion 



■^ Pauly, D. 1998. Rationale for reconstructing catch time 

 series. EC Fisheries Cooperation Bulletin 11:4-10. 



3 Zeller, D., S. Booth, and D. Pauly. 2005. Reconstruction of 

 coral reef- and bottom-fisheries catches for U.S. flag island 

 areas in the Western Pacific, 1950 to 2002. Western Pacific 

 Regional Fishery Management Council, 1164 Bishop St., Suite 

 1400, Honolulu, HI 96813. Website: http://www.wpcouncil. 

 org/bottomfish.htm (accessed 17 October 2006). 



* Smith, R. O. 1947. Survey of the fisheries of the former 

 Japanese mandated islands. Fishery Leaflet 273, U.S. Fish 

 and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, 1849 

 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20240, 105 p. 



methods have been applied in the past to raise the creel 

 survey data to island-wide catch estimates, but these 

 have been standardized since the mid-1980s in collabo- 

 ration with WPacFIN. However, specifics of the method 

 and thoroughness of a survey, of data handling, and of 

 analyses have varied during the earlier periods. Since 

 the early 1980s, these survey data have been reported 

 through WPacFIN, and are the most comprehensive 

 series of catch estimates used in the present study. 



Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) 



The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 

 (CNMI, Fig. 1) consists of a 680 km chain of 14 volca- 

 nic islands, extending northward from Rota (14°9'N, 

 145°12'E) to Farallon De Pajaros (20°32'N, 144°54'E). 

 Over 99% of the human population (69,000 in 2000) 

 is concentrated on the three southern main islands of 

 Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. The population has increased 

 rapidly since the 1980s, driven by fewer restrictions on 

 immigration and by the prosperity from the main indus- 

 tries — tourism and garment manufacturing. 



CNMI are a group of islands with fringing reefs (sur- 

 rounding most islands) and offshore coral reef banks 

 and ridges. The conditions of local reefs vary; heavy 

 fishing pressure is considered a problem for the sustain- 

 ability of the reefs on the main islands, particularly the 

 island of Saipan, because of its large population and 

 more extensive coastal development. 



Following WWII and the expulsion of the active Japa- 

 nese fisheries, subsistence fisheries again dominated the 

 catch. Because of the loss of most Japanese fishing ves- 

 sels, and decades of Japanese restrictions on indigenous 

 fishing outside local reefs, early subsistence catches 

 were focused on near-shore and lagoon-based resources. 

 Subsistence fishing for near-shore resources was an im- 

 portant daily activity for the local population well into 

 the 1970s, whereas commercial and recreational fleet 

 developments did not start until the 1960s, and west- 

 ernized economic development did not accelerate until 

 the 1970s and 1980s. The local economic boom start- 

 ing in the late 1980s, driven by tourism and garment 

 manufacturing, did not result in significant growth of 

 the commercial fisheries sector. Thus, the local fishing 

 industry supplied only a small part of the total seafood 

 demand in the 1990s, and imports accounted for a grow- 

 ing part of the supply. Growth in recreational fisher- 

 ies came instead with increased westernization of the 

 economy which, combined with increased availability 

 of boats, blurred the boundaries between subsistence 

 and recreational fishing. Thus, each fishing trip today 

 may have commercial and subsistence, as well as rec- 

 reational aspects. 



The Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) for CNMI 

 conducted a data collection system for commercial catch- 

 es since the mid-1970s but reported data have only been 

 available since the early 1980s through WPacFIN. The 

 estimated commercial landings in Saipan are based 

 on a voluntary dealer purchase receipt collection sys- 

 tem and are adjusted by WPacFIN for the remainder 

 of CNMI. The noncommercial sector (subsistence and 



