Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) is one of eight regional councils established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) in 1976 to manage offshore fisheries. The WPRFMC's jurisdiction includes the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters (generally 3–200 miles offshore) around the State of Hawaii; US Territories of American Samoa and Guam; the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); and the US Pacific remote island areas of Johnston, Midway, Palmyra and Wake Atolls; Baker, Howland and Jarvis Islands; and Kingman Reef. This area of nearly 1.5 million square miles is the size of the continental United States and constitutes about half of the entire US EEZ. It spans both sides of the equator and both sides of the dateline. The WPRFMC also manages domestic fisheries based in the US Pacific Islands that operate on the high seas.
The council is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Role.
The WPRFMC fulfills a central role in the management of the nation's marine fisheries resources. Its primary role is to prepare, monitor and amend management plans for offshore fisheries based in the Western Pacific Region. Each plan contains a suite of management measures and associated regulations that have been implemented to support sustainable fisheries, reduce and mitigate interactions with protected species, and conserve marine habitat and ecosystems.
The plans and fishery regulations are dynamic and reflect the WPRFMC's adaptive management, which monitors and addresses changing conditions based on the best available information. In developing these plans, the WPRFMC provides a public forum for decision-making and works closely with communities, local governments, federal agencies and local and international organizations.
The MSA authorizes fishery management councils to create Fishery Management Plans (FMP). Since the 1980s, the WPRFMC has managed fisheries throughout the Western Pacific Region through separate species-based FMPs – the Bottomfish and Seamount Groundfish FMP., the Crustaceans FMP, the Precious Corals FMP, the Coral Reef Ecosystems FMP and the Pelagic FMP
However, in 2010, the WPRFMC began moving towards an ecosystem-based approach to fisheries management and is restructuring its management framework from species-based FMPs to place-based FEP. Recognizing that a comprehensive ecosystem approach to fisheries management must be initiated through an incremental, collaborative, and adaptive management process, a multi-step approach is being used to develop and implement the FEPs. To be successful, this will require increased understanding of a range of issues including, biological and trophic relationships, ecosystem indicators and models, and the ecological effects of non-fishing activities on the marine environment.
The WPRFMC currently has five place-based FEPs, one each for Hawaii, American Samoa and Mariana (Guam and CNMI) Archipelagos; one for the US Pacific Remote Island Areas (PRIAs); and another for the Pacific Pelagic fisheries. The approach of these management plans allows explicit consideration to be given to the ecosystem interactions within each of the areas managed by the WPRFMC.
International roles.
Vessels from Hawaii fish on the high seas in both the Western and Central Pacific Ocean and the Eastern Pacific Ocean, which are included in the jurisdictions of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, respectively. The Council is involved in these regional fishery management organizations and other international bodies and initiatives to address resource management issues such as marine debris, marine education, and conservation of tuna and tuna-like species, seamount resources, deepwater corals and protected species, including seabirds, sea turtles, marine mammals and sharks.
Local roles.
The WPRFMC also plays a significant facilitation role in the Community Demonstration Project Program (CDPP), Community Development Program, and Marine Education and Training Program. These programs were created by Congress through the MSA to promote continued participation of indigenous communities in Pacific Island fisheries. The WPRFMC also supports fishery development and resource management projects identified in the Marine Conservation Plans of American Samoa, Guam and CNMI through the Western Pacific Sustainable Fisheries Fund (SFF), also established by the MSA.
Components of the WPRFMC system.
The WPRFMC system is composed of Council Members, Council Staff, and advisory bodies that advise the Council and the public that participates in the Council decision-making process.
Composition.
The Council has 13 voting members and three non-voting members.
Advisory bodies.
When reviewing potential regulatory changes, the WPRFMC also draws upon the services of knowledgeable people from local and federal agencies, universities and the public, who serve on WPRFMC panels and committees. Advisory bodies include the Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC), the Advisory Panel (AP), the Archipelagic and Pelagic Plan Teams, Regional Ecosystem Advisory Committees (REAC) and other committees.