Hawaii''s longline vessels can fish again for bigeye tuna in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands.

Since 5 August, the 145 active vessels in the Hawaii longline fleet have been prohibited from catching bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) determined that the fleet had reached its 2015 US bigeye tuna limit of 3,502mt.

However, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has announced through the Federal Register that the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) has a 2,000mt catch limit of longline-caught bigeye tuna and can allocate up to 1,000mt each year to US longline fishing vessels in a specified fishing agreement.

The news was especially welcomed for approximately three dozen Hawaii longline vessels that are larger than 24m in length. These larger vessels have been banned from fishing not only in the WCPO but also in the Eastern Pacific Ocean since 12 Aug. According to another international agreement to which the United States is a party, the US longline fleet has a quota of 500mt in EPO after which US longline vessels less than 24m in length only can operate in those waters.

The Hawaii longline fishery is unique. The fish are packed in ice and brought fresh to the dock for mostly Hawaii consumption. Only 3% is exported and the value of the fish landed by the Hawaii fleet is about $100 million.

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