1999 

 OUR LIVING OCEANS 



invertebrates. The region also supports protected species such as the Hawaiian monk seal 

 sea turtles, whales, and dolphins. 



Bigscale soldierfish. Point 

 Panie Pipe, Oahu, Hawaii. 



rhe highly migratory stocks (tunas, billfishes, swordfish, sharks, and others) range 

 the high seas, ohen bevond U.S. Usheries management jtuisdiction. lunas are the major 

 catch component and migrate across multiple jurisdictions in the Pacihc. I'he combined 

 LTPY oi these stocks throughoiu their migratory range is 3,435,031 t, while the prorated 

 U.S. UTPY is only about 7.5% of that. OI the 1 5 stock groups ol highly migratory pelagic 

 fishes, 1 1 stocks are near the levels that would produce their I.TPYs, 1 is below LTPY (blue 

 marlin), 2 are above (yellowfm and skipjack in the central-western Pacific), and 1 (pelagic 

 sharks) is of imknown status. Together, these stocks accoimt tor 99% ot the region's RAY in 

 tonnage and support some of the most valuable fisheries in the world. 



Western Pacific bottomfishes (snappers, jacks, grouper, emperors) are harvested from 

 a variety of rock and coral habitats around Hawaii and western Pacific islands. About 90% 

 of the catch is taken in the Main Hawaiian Islands, where stock assessments indicate some 

 important species are only at \0-M)"/o ot original stock levels in some areas. But when the 

 resources are considered across the region, the U.S. RAY of 492 t is only 18'!'i) ol l.'I'PY, 

 mainly because stocks in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, American Samoa, and the 

 Mariana Islands are underutilized. 



Pelagic armorhead was harvested from 1968 to the late 1980's or early 1990's by 

 foreign fleets on the summits and slopes of submerged seamounts along the southern Em- 

 peror-northern Hawaiian Ridge. Of these undersea mountains, the only gtoup uiuler U.S. 

 jurisdiction is the Hancock Seamounts (representing less than S"/o of the total hshing 

 grounds). Fishing there has been prohibited since 1984, to allow the stock to recover after 

 foreign catch rates declined to low levels. The Llnited States has never fished pelagic 

 armorhead, but because of its fishery potential, the resource is regulated under a Seamount 

 Groundfish FMP 



The most important invertebrate fisheries in the Western Pacific Region are for spiny 

 and slipper lobsters. They are primarily fished in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. This 

 fishery began in 1 977 and reached its peak during the mid 1 98()\, but it has since declined. 

 The primarv cause of the decline is thought to be a general rcdiietioti in lobster productiv- 

 ity and recruitment since 1989, stemming from mesoscale oceanographic changes. Since 



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