124 
Fishery Bulletin 109(1 ) 
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Figure 1 
Map of the Hawaiian Archipelago and the North Pacific basin. The Main Hawaiian Islands 
bottomfish fishery zone and the Ho’omalu and Mau management zones of the former North- 
western Hawaiian bottomfish fishery are delineated by vertical dashed lines. Only fish col- 
lected from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and Niihau-Kauai (the island adjacent to and 
E-NE of Niihau) — i.e., west of about 160°W longitude — were evaluated for this study; >70% 
of these were from the Ho’omalu Zone, west of 165°W. The relative sizes of the black circles 
represent the number of Hawaiian grouper ( Hyporthodus quernus) collected for analysis. 
western Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) and Main Hawaiian 
Islands (MHI) handline bottomfisheries and, since clo- 
sure of the fishery in both Ho’omalu and Mau Manage- 
ment Zones of the NWHI in June 2010, continues to be 
one of the targeted “deep-7” bottomfish species in the 
MHI. All deep-7 species have been protected by emer- 
gency fishery closures for 5 to 7 months during spring- 
summer of 2006-09 (http://www.hawaiibottomfish.info/ 
index.htm). The MHI stocks of Hawaiian grouper have 
been identified as particularly stressed (Moffitt et al. 1 ) 
based on the criterion of a low and recently declining 
SPR (spawning potential ratio: Goodyear, 1993) that 
has historically been used in Hawaii bottomfish stock 
assessments. Over the past half-decade, the catches of 
this grouper in the MHI have been variable and low 
compared to prior years, ranging from about 8000 to 
16,000 pounds (3629-7257 kg; Moffitt et al. 1 ) — a small 
1 Moffitt, R., D. Kobayashi, and G. DiNardo. 2006. Status of 
Hawaiian bottomfish stocks, 2004. Pacific Islands Fisheries 
Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA 
Admin. Rep. NMFS-PIFSC-H-06-01, 45 p. Pac. Isl. Fish. 
Sci. Cent., 2570 Dole Street, Honolulu, HI 96822-2396. 
but valuable fraction of the recent (2007-2010) Total 
Allowable Catch limits set for MHI bottomfishes of 
178-254 thousand pounds (80,740-115,200 kg) per year 
(http://www.hawaiibottomfish.info/BFnews_vol6_final. 
pdf; accessed July 2010). Like many large groupers 
(Huntsman et al., 1999), the Hawaiian grouper is a 
species of conservation concern (Morris et al., 2000). It 
is a slow growing, long-lived, and late maturing species 
(Nichols and DeMartini 2 ), and preliminary evidence 
(Everson 3 ) has indicated that, at least in the NWHI 
2 Nichols, R. S., and E. E. DeMartini. 2008. Preliminary 
estimates of age and growth for the endemic Hawaiian grou- 
per (Hapu’upu’u, Epinephelus quernus , F. Serranidae). Pacific 
Islands Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisher- 
ies Service, NOAA Admin. Rep. NMFS-PIFSC H-08-06, 19 
p. Pac. Isl. Fish. Sci. Cent., 2570 Dole Street, Honolulu, 
HI 96822-2396. 
3 Everson, A. R. 1992. Sexual identity and seasonal spawn- 
ing of Hapu’upu’u, Epinephelus quernus , in Hawaii. Southwest 
Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, 
NOAA Administrative Report NMFS-PIFSC H-92-13, 12 
p. Southwest Fish. Sci. Cent., 2570 Dole Street, Honolulu, 
HI 96822-2396. 
