[Coral-List] American Samoa moving towards complete protection of big fishes
Christopher Hawkins
chwkins at yahoo.com
Wed Aug 29 22:00:33 EDT 2007
Dear Listers:
In his recent email, Chuck Birkeland mentioned Dr. Doug Fenner's diligence, which recently culminated in Governor Tulafono's statement of intent to begin a process to protect rare, large fish species in American Samoan waters.
Doug, among others, is to be commended. Over the past several years, he has methodically assisted in making the case to political leaders for the need for conservation of these species -- not always an easy road.
One of the more disappointing sights I have witnessed was a meter and a half long bumphead hanging from a tree during my morning commute to Pago Pago, waiting for a buyer. Probably one of the last big ones.
Congratulations Doug and company!
Best,
Chris
American Samoa moving towards complete protection
of big fishes
American Samoa might become the first territory
to give complete protection to all large species
of reef fishes in all seasons throughout the
territory. At the recent US Coral Reef Task Force
meeting in American Samoa (20-23 August), Governor
Togiola Tulafono announced that the Government of
American Samoa is beginning the process of
protecting the big fishes (humphead wrasses, bumphead
parrotfishes, giant grouper, giant trevallies, and
six species of sharks). The local Samoan
population expressed themselves with splendid eloquence
at two public hearings in April 2001 in protest of
the depletion of big fishes by a small group of
commercial fishermen using high tech nightlights
and scuba. These big fishes are now rare and
therefore they are especially vulnerable to
additional harvest. Because of this, Ray Tulafono,
Director of the Division of Marine and Wildlife
Resources (DMWR), will begin a process of hearings and
consultations, working towards placing complete
protection f
or the big fishes listed above.
Consideration of protection of big fishes is
based on strong scientific evidence. Doug Fenner,
Acting Chief Biologist at DMWR, working on a NOAA
Coral Reef Monitoring Grant, had been diligently
compiling information on the depletion of big reef
fishes around American Samoa, reviewing all the
available scientific information from research at
DMWR, from other scientists in the territory, and
from the research of visiting scientists over
the years. The most compelling scientific support
for this decision came from a massive report under
review at this time (R. Brainard et al. 2007
Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Report for American
Samoa: 2002-2006. NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries
Science Center Special Report NMFS PIFSC. 504
pp). Replicate surveys (2002, 2004, 2006) around the
American Samoan, Hawaiian, and Marianas
Archipelagoes, as well as isolated islands such as Wake,
Palmyra, Kingman Reef, Jarvis, Baker, Howland,
consisted of tow-board transects and visual
benthic transec
ts. The independent survey methods both clearly
demonstrated an inverse correlation between human
population sizes and the presence of big fishes
of all species. Ray Tulafono reviewed the
evidence with the DMWR biologists and all agreed these
species need to be protected because they are
rare.
This latest action is consistent with other
responsible measures by the Government of American
Samoa. In 2000 and Executive Order (EO) by the
Governor banned collection of "live rock" for export
to the aquarium market. In 2001, an EO banned
scuba-assisted fishing. In 2003, an EO was given to
protect sea turtles and marine mammals in
territorial waters. This EO reiterated the need for
protection and public education regarding these
federally protected endangered species. In 2003,
another EO was given to ban shark finning in
territorial waters.
Pacific islanders live close to their resources
and therefore have a relatively clear perception
of the status of the surrounding marine life. A
number of island cultures around the tropical
Pacific have traditions of responsible resource
management. I have heard that Palau now protects all of
its reef sharks because tourism is an important
part of its economy. Niue protects humphead
wrasses. Queensland, Australia (the largest Pacific
island), fully protects humphead wrasses and also
groupers greater than 100 cm because of their low
natural abundances and potential threat from
overexploitation. Queensland is also considering
additional protection of nearshore sharks. But as far
as I know, American Samoa is the first to work
towards complete protection of all their ten
largest species of reef fishes.
Chuck Birkeland
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