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Hawaii Advisory Panel: Part of the Local Community
Nathan Abe with his catch of Kona crab.
PC: John Wiley
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The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (the Council) tackles effectively managing the nation’s marine fishery resources. For each issue brought to the table, the Council turns to several advisory groups for advice and recommendations. Advisory groups include the Science and Statistical Committee, the Archipelagic and Pelagic Plan Teams and the Advisory Panel (AP), among others.
The Council’s AP consists of recreational and commercial fishermen, charter boat operators, buyers, sellers, consumers and others knowledgeable about the fisheries in the region, including Indigenous fisheries. They serve as a bridge between the fishing community and fishery managers and scientists. The AP’s role is to listen to their community about environmental concerns, fishing resources and challenges to fishermen, and to share that information with the Council. The Council uses this information to develop and amend its fishery management plans in a truly bottom-up approach to good governance.
The AP includes subpanels for the American Samoa, Hawai‘i and Mariana archipelagos. Members serve for four-year terms. Each of the subpanel groups develop plans each year to share fishery-related information with their communities.
As part of their outreach efforts, the Hawai‘i AP members plan to share their expertise with schools and other interested people on various topics, such as fishing (e.g., different gear types, lure design and methods for catching and rigging), fishery research (data collection and fish tagging), management, rules, the Aha Moku system, and Hawai‘i culture and traditions.
The Council encourages everyone to get involved in the fishery management process and wants to introduce its Hawai‘i AP members. In the first feature of a series, Council staff interviewed Nathan Abe, a third-generation commercial fisherman from Kailua-Kona on Hawai‘i.
Growing up, Nathan and his brother would paddle out on their canoes to net ‘opelu— aquaculture of the sea, as he described it. He said they would fish 350 out of 365 days of the year when they were growing up, mainly targeting ‘opelu, ‘ahi and bottomfish. As they got older, they fished on bigger boats and targeted bigger fish. They had two boats: one used for bottomfish and ‘ahi; the other used to catch bait to catch bottomfish and ‘ahi. Now, Nathan focuses more on bottomfish and inshore fishing, while his brother mainly does offshore fishing and occasional bottom fishing.
Although they primarily fish commercially, Nathan and his brother make it a point to save a portion of their catch to give away to friends and family. “Fishing is hard work,” Nathan said. “To be a good fisherman, you need to have passion and continue to get excited when someone calls out ‘hana pa‘a!’”
For more information on the Hawai‘i AP or the speakers’ bureau, contact the Council at <info@wpcouncil.org>, (808) 522-8220, or visit <www.wpcouncil.org/about-us/advisory-groups/ advisory-panel>. . . . WPRFMC
The Council’s 2019-2022 Regional Advisory Panel (AP) members received training at the main Honolulu office in March 2019. Hawai‘i AP member Nathan Abe is pictured in the second row, third from the right.
PC: WPRFMC
