A public meeting on potential changes to main Hawaiian Islands deep-7 bottomfish fishery rules and regulations, including changes to minimum size limits for the sale of ahi, will be held Dec. 13 in Kailua-Kona. ADVERTISING A public meeting on potential
A public meeting on potential changes to main Hawaiian Islands deep-7 bottomfish fishery rules and regulations, including changes to minimum size limits for the sale of ahi, will be held Dec. 13 in Kailua-Kona.
The Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources and Federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service will hold the public meetings. Bottomfish measure considerations include options for noncommercial fishery daily bag limit, creating a market grace period during which seafood dealers and markets can sell deep-7 bottomfish after a fishery closure and changes to the State of Hawaii bottomfish restricted fishing area closures and reporting grids.
Workshops will feature interactive booths on state bottomfish reporting requirements; standardizing and improving catch and effort reporting; volunteer noncommercial reporting; federal noncommercial bottomfish permit and reporting; ahi science and minimum size considerations; and community fish aggregation device voluntary reporting.
The Kona meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel, which is located at 75-5660 Palani Road, in Kailua-Kona.
A public meeting is also scheduled in Hilo from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Hilo High School cafeteria on Dec. 12.
