The United States delegation to an upcoming Tuna Commission meeting is pushing for more nuanced regulations in Pacific fisheries.
The US West Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council is arguing the Hawai'i fishery shouldn't be compared to distant water nations and there are already restrictions as boats can't freeze fish and catch in bulk.
A senior scientist, Paul Dalzell, says the regulations that restrict bigeye tuna catches are blunt instruments.
He says the weight restrictions on the Honolulu longline fishery should not apply to the high seas 10 degrees north and south of the equator, where adult bigeye is in plentiful supply.
"We know that fishing mortality is low in this segment of the stock, the biomass remains unchanged over a very long period of time with or without fishing. So just these simply blunt instrument type management measures are not going to cut it. You need to have measures that also include a spatial element that recognises that fishing mortality everywhere is not the same."
Paul Dalzell.
