Fishing Effort in the Pacific Ocean
and the U.S. Pacific Exclusive Economic Zone—1.5 million square miles
Three months fishing effort (October–December 2019) Foreign fishing vessels
U.S. fishing vessels
DATA SOURCE: GLOBAL FISHING WATCH
U.S. exclusive economic zones
Vessels are predominantly purse seine, longline, and pole and line vessels targeting tuna and swordfish. Fig. 26. U.S. and foreign fishing effort in the Western Pacific
14. Negative Impacts of the Billfish Conservation Act The Billfish Conservation Act (BCA) of 2012 was proposed and lobbied for by recreational billfish anglers and their conservationist allies to ease the enforcement of the existing bans on marlin in the United States. Introduced by Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), it prohibited the sale or possession of billfish or billfish products in the United States. The Florida representatives who supported the legislation were aware of the importance to their state of recreational charter boat fishing and fishing tournaments. They followed the IGFA’s long-term push to create disincentives for marlin as a fresh fish consumer item. The idea was an old one, first proposed by Weld and Rockefeller during the 1980s. The bill was passed, but with an exemption for Hawai‘i and the U.S. Pacific territories proposed by Sen. Inouye. In late 2012, he passed away 22
and then Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz was appointed to replace him in Congress. In 2018, pro-recreational fishing political action groups re-mobilized and had new members of the Florida delegation introduce an amendment that would end the exemptions that allowed Hawai‘i and the U.S. Pacific territories to sell marlin and billfish to customers outside of Hawai‘i. With Inouye gone, only Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawai‘i), Aumua Amata Radewagen (R-American Samoa) and Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam)
rose an objection. Thus, an amendment was passed to the BCA. Radewagen, in an Additional Views statement on H.R. 4528, said the legislation “will negatively impact the livelihoods of fishermen in Hawai‘i, Guam and the Pacific Insular Areas by closing off the only off-island market for U.S.-caught billfish.” Acknowledging that several Atlantic billfish species are subject to overfishing, the Congresswomen said, “We support needed conservation efforts in the Atlantic, but do not believe that Pacific fisheries need to be targeted in order to achieve these goals.” “When the BCA amendment passed prohibiting the sale of Hawai‘i caught billfish to markets outside of Hawai‘i, I felt betrayed by the IGFA and resigned my longtime membership with them,”
