Black coral harvesting to remain open but…

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council voted yesterday to place stricter restriction on black coral harvesting in federal waters—beyond 3 miles—around Hawaii rather than place a five-year moratorium on the fishery, as proposed by its Scientific and Statistical Committee.

The council voted to restrict the harvest of black coral to a minimum size of 48 inches in height or 1-inch in base diameter. This decision would remove an exemption that allowed fishermen who reported harvests of black corals between April 17, 1997, and April 17, 2002, to harvest black coral trees with minimum sizes of 36 inches or 3/4-inch base diameter. All current commercial black coral divers had been eligible for this exemption.

University of Hawaii professor Rick Grigg, who has headed the council’s Precious Coral Plan Team for 28 years, said the increase in minimum size would protect the corals for an additional five years of sexual maturity, allowing more recruitment to take place. While black coral biomass appears to be more abundant than ever, there also appears to be a decline in the larger, more mature trees and in the young recruits. The decline could be due to the invasive species Carijoa riisei (snowflake coral), an opportunistic species that grows on the black coral and kills it.

The council recommended that the black coral issue be addressed through the following additional measures:

* Research looking at the relationship between base diameter size and sexual maturity.

* Investigation into the development of a marine protected area for black corals in the Auau Channel through collaboration with the State of Hawaii and black coral fishermen.

* A workshop for fishers, scientists, resource managers, enforcement and industry to review the available date, data collection process, MPA criteria, enforcement and education.

* Recommendation to the State of Hawaii to revise state regulations for the harvest of black corals to make them consistent with federal regulations (State minimum size is currently 3/4 inch base).

* Funding for black coral research.

The council will end its three-day meeting today, when it addresses overfishing of Pacific bigeye tuna and Hawaii bottomfish.

Black coral is the official state gem of Hawaii and brings about $25 million to the state annually. Hawaii black coral is a highly prized precious coral, much superior to imported black coral from the Philippines and elsewhere, which is a different species.

The four commercial divers actively harvesting deepwater black corals in Hawaii are the only such fishermen in the United States. They operate in the Auau Channel, which separates the islands of Maui and Lanai. The harvestable corals are found at 150 to 250 feet, allowing the divers about 20 minutes of dive time, followed by 1 1/2 hours of decompression time. The fishermen face multiple risks, including decompression sickness (i.e., the bends) and shark attacks, among others.

The council is the agency responsible for managing fisheries in the federal water (generally 3-200 miles offshore) of the U.S. Pacific islands. Recommendations made by the council are forwarded to the Secretary of Commerce for final approval.

For more information on these or other agenda items, contact the council at 808-522-8220, email info.wpcouncil@noaa.gov or visit its website at www.wpcounci.org.