The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Council (WPRFC) has authorized mandatory electronic monitoring of all commercial longline vessels operating in the Hawai‘i and American Samoa fisheries.
With the number of human observers dwindling due to limited funding, the council determined that it was necessary to adopt electronic monitoring in order to adequately track the fisheries’ operations and ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Vessels will be selected randomly to have devices installed until the entire fleet of 161 vessels is fully equipped in 2027.
Critically, the WPRFC has secured funding to install the devices and cover the administration costs of the program through 2027, meaning that vessel owners won’t be stuck with the costs of implementing the electronic monitoring system.
Council members suggested the federal government should take up the costs of running the electronic monitoring program after 2027.
“Whether it be the human observer program or EM, this is a mandate by the federal government, and we are now discussing an unfunded mandate,” Council Vice Chair for American Samoa Archie Soliai said in a statement. “We’ve heard over the last couple of years how the American Samoa longline fleet is struggling, and I find it very hard to support having industry pay for something that should be the responsibility of the federal government beyond 2027.”
If the federal government doesn’t step in, vessel owners may need to pay for replacement cameras every three years and other basic maintenance of the systems.
“We support mandatory EM,” Hawaii Longline Association Executive Director Eric Kingma said in a statement. “But we can’t take it on if the agency does not take up the costs.”
WPRFC also directed staff to host workshops and work with NOAA Fisheries and vessel operators on vessel monitoring plans. The council also approved a new training requirement to make sure longline vessel crews know how to successfully handle and release protected species.
