Pacific Islands Annual Catch Limits
A summary of the current estimated catch of target species, percent of annual limits caught, and status of Pacific Island fisheries.
Annual catch limits (ACLs) and Annual Catch Targets (ACTs) are tools to prevent overfishing in commercial and recreational fisheries. NOAA Fisheries administers ACLs and ACTs for the Pelagic, Hawai‘i, American Samoa, Guam, Mariana Archipelago, and Pacific Remote Island Areas fisheries.
Pelagic
Fishery¹ |
Species |
2023 Annual Limit (metric tons) |
2023 Estimated Catch
|
% of Limit Caught |
2023 Estimated Catch Total Through |
Status |
Western and Central Pacific Longline |
3,554 |
3,552 |
99% |
December 8, 2023 |
Open |
|
American Samoa Longline |
2,000 |
372 |
19% |
November 10, 2023 |
Open |
|
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Longline |
2,000 including Hawaii Longline Association (HLA) agreement below |
1,001 |
50% |
December 8, 2023 |
Open |
|
1,500 for agreement with HLA |
1,001 |
67% |
December 8, 2023 |
Open. NOAA Fisheries began attributing catch to this agreement on October 8, 2023. The catch is projected to be 1,462 t on December 31, 2023. |
||
Guam Longline |
2,000 |
- |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Eastern Pacific Longline |
750 (for vessels > 24 m) |
247 |
33% |
November 10, 2023 |
Open |
¹ NOAA Fisheries has not specified ACLs for most pelagic species because they are subject to international fishing agreements or have life cycles of less than a year.
Hawai‘i
Fishery |
Species |
2022-23 Annual Limit (lb) |
2022-23 Estimated Catch (lb) |
% of Limit Caught |
Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bottomfish1 |
Main Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 Bottomfish (Lehi, Ehu, Onaga, Opakapaka, Kalekale, Gindae, Hapuʻupuʻu) |
492,000 |
75,681 |
15.4% |
Open |
Precious Coral2 |
Black Coral - |
5,512 |
- |
- |
Open |
Pink and Red Coral - |
489 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Pink and Red Coral - |
979 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Pink and Red Coral - |
148 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Pink and Red Coral - |
148 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Pink and Red Coral - |
2,205 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Bamboo Coral - |
123 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Bamboo Coral - |
245 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Bamboo Coral - |
37 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Bamboo Coral - |
37 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Bamboo Coral - |
551 |
- |
- |
Open |
|
Precious Corals - |
2,205 |
- |
- |
Open |
¹ The fishing year for the deep 7 bottomfish fishery began September 1, 2023 and ends August 31, 2024. Catch includes data for September 1, 2023–December 31, 2023.
² The fishing year for precious corals began July 1, 2023 and ends June 30, 2024.
Fishery |
Species |
2022 Annual Limit (lb) |
2023 Estimated Catch (lb) |
% of Limit Caught |
Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bottomfish3 |
Gray Jobfish (Uku) |
295,419 ACL |
45,002 - |
15.2% 15.5% |
Open |
Crustacean |
Deepwater Shrimp |
250,773 ACL |
- |
- |
Open |
Kona Crab4 |
30,802 lb ACL 25,491 lb ACT |
4,689 - |
15.2% 18.4% |
Open |
3 Catch limits for uku apply to commercial and non-commercial catch. This update only reflects commercial catch for this time period (January 1–December 31, 2023) and will be updated as additional information becomes available.
4 Kona crab catch includes data for January 1–December 31, 2023.
Note: NOAA Fisheries has not specified ACLs for stocks subject to federal fishing moratoria or prohibitions. These include all species of gold coral, all species of deepwater precious coral at Wespac Bed in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, and the three Hawai‘i seamount groundfish: pelagic armorhead, alfonsin and raft fish. The current prohibition on fishing for these species serves as a functional equivalent of an ACL of zero.
American Samoa
Fishery | Species | 2022 Annual Limit (lb) | Estimated Catch (lb) | % of Limit Caught | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bottomfish1 | Bottomfish multi-species stock complex | 5,000 | 172 | 3.4% | Open |
1American Samoa bottomfish catch includes data for January 1–June 30, 2022.
Guam
Fishery | Species | 2022 Annual Limit (lb) | Estimated Catch (lb) | % of Limit Caught | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bottomfish1 | Bottomfish multi-species stock complex | 31,000 | 22,231 | 71.7% | Open |
1Guam bottomfish catch includes data for January 1–September 30, 2022.
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Fishery | Species | 2022 Annual Limit (lb) | Estimated Catch (lb) | % of Limit Caught | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bottomfish | Bottomfish multi-species stock complex |
84,000 lb ACL 78,000 lb ACT |
- | - | Open |
Pacific Remote Island Areas
Fishery | Species | Annual Limit (lb) | Estimated Catch (lb) | % of Limit Caught | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No catch limits | - | - | - | - | - |
Note: NOAA Fisheries has not specified ACLs for any bottomfish crustacean, precious coral, or coral reef ecosystem species in the Pacific Remote Island Areas because commercial fishing is prohibited out to 50 nautical miles by Presidential Proclamation 8336 which established the Pacific Remote Island Marine National Monument (74 FR 1565, January 12, 2009).