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# Pacific Islands

Overview
Science
Fisheries
Protected Marine Life
Habitat
Species

## Pacific Islands

The Pacific Islands, comprised of American Samoa, Guam, Hawaiʻi, the Northern Mariana Islands, and other U.S. Pacific Islands, are surrounded by a rich diversity of marine life that is vital to our culture and economic stability. We thrive on sustainable seafood; it's key to our health and well-being. We also benefit from recreational and commercial fishing industries, which contribute nearly $1 billion in sales and 10,000 jobs to our economy. In 2015, commercial fishermen landed more than 36 million pounds of finfish and shellfish.

We are home to the lovable, yet endangered Hawaiian monk seal—only 1,500 remain. Other popular species include green sea turtles, spinner dolphins, false killer whales, and humpback whales. Our coral reefs support about 25 percent of marine life, but these areas are among the most threatened ecosystems because of the effects of natural events and human activities such as ocean acidification, coral bleaching and disease, marine debris, and pollution.

Our work to ensure sustainable fisheries and protect marine life is a joint effort between NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office and the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, offering cutting-edge science to help inform management decisions in an ever-changing environment. We work together to conserve and manage domestic and international marine resources in a vast geographical area. 

Our vision for the region is to achieve sustainable fisheries and seafood, healthy marine ecosystems that provide stability for fishery resources, recovery of threatened and endangered species, and enhanced opportunities for commercial, recreational, and cultural activities in the marine environment.

## More Information 

                        -  Viewing Marine Wildlife in Hawaiʻi 
                        -  Apply for a Fishing Permit 
                        -  Funding Opportunities 
                        -  Jobs and Internships 

## About Us | Contact Us 

                        -  Pacific Islands Regional Office  
                        -  Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center  

### Follow Us

@NOAAFish_PIFSC

@NOAAFish_PIRO

NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands

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## Featured News

A Hawaiian monk seal entangled in a derelict fishing net. Credit: NOAA Fisheries (Permit #10137)

### A Substantial Reduction in Seal Entanglement 

Pacific Islands

A black, ezo, abalone at Big Island Abalone farm in Kona, Hawaii (Courtesy of Big Island Abalone.) 

### Big Island Abalone Grows Shellfish in Hawai'i

Pacific Islands

LL00 and her first pup lay on the sands of Hōlanikū. Credit: Kure Atoll Conservancy (Permit #22677-02)

### From Past Patients to New Moms

Pacific Islands

A Bryde’s whale photographed in the Mariana Archipelago. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Adam Ü (NOAA Fisheries MMPA-ESA Permit #14097)

### Hey, Google: Find this New Whale Sound

Pacific Islands

Ms. Sarah Malloy is the new Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ Pacific Islands Regional Office. Credit: NOAA Fisheries.

### NOAA Names Sarah Malloy to Lead Fisheries’ Pacific Islands Region 

Pacific Islands

View More News

## Notices & Rules

#### 2025 Observer Coverage Rate for the Hawai‘i Deep-Set Longline Fishery

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

#### Proposed Rule to Implement 2024-2026 Catch Limits and Accountability Measures for American Samoa Bottomfish

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

#### Changes to Pacific Bigeye Tuna Longline Catch Limit 

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

#### Amendment 7 to the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the American Samoa Archipelago; Discontinue Rebuilding Plan for American Samoa Bottomfish

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

#### Proposed Rule for 10 Species of Giant Clams under the Endangered Species Act

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

More Fisheries Notices & RulesMore Protected Resources Regs & Actions

## Upcoming Events

#### Public Hearings and Listening Sessions on Proposed Rule for 10 Species of Giant Clams

Sep 4, 2024 - Oct 2, 2024

Pacific Islands

#### Upcoming Permanent Advisory Committee Meeting

Oct 21, 2024 - Oct 23, 2024

Pacific Islands

More Events

## Open Funding Opportunities

#### Citizen Science for Improved Stock Assessments and Climate-Ready Fisheries Management

National

National

#### Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Competition

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Pacific Islands

Southeast

West Coast

National

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Pacific Islands

Southeast

West Coast

National

#### Fiscal Year 2024–2026: Broad Agency Announcement

National

National

#### Species Recovery Grants to States

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Pacific Islands

Southeast

West Coast

National

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Pacific Islands

Southeast

West Coast

National

#### Species Recovery Grants to Tribes

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Southeast

West Coast

National

Alaska

New England/Mid-Atlantic

Southeast

West Coast

National

More Opportunities

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## Featured Highlights

Two researchers test bongo nets during a gear trial. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

### Gearing up for the Big Show: NOAA Ship Gear Trials

Pacific Islands

Scientists Andrea Schmidt and Jessica Perelman (CIMAR/RCUH in support of NOAA Fisheries, PIFSC) pour the contents of the cod end through a sieve. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Alexa Gonzalez

### A Night in the Life of a Seagoing Marine Ecologist 

Pacific Islands

Don Kobayashi (left) and Justin Suca (right, CIMAR/RCUH in support of NOAA Fisheries, PIFSC) deploy the Isaac-Kidd Midwater Trawl plankton net. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

### Locating the Larvae

Pacific Islands

Erin has worked as a NOAA Fisheries observer these past 8 months. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Erin Smeltzer

### My Sea Kit

Pacific Islands

## Science Overview

We provide science to support the conservation and management of fisheries and living marine resources across the Pacific Ocean. We are dedicated to the recovery and conservation of protected species and fisheries resources through biological, ecological, and social science.

## Research Areas 

                                -  Protected Species 
                                -  Ecosystem Sciences 
                                -  Fisheries 
                                -  Coral Reefs 
                                -  Research Surveys 

## Research Topics 

                                -  Hawaiian Monk Seals 
                                -  Sea Turtle Populations 
                                -  Whale and Dolphin Surveys 
                                -  Fish Life History 
                                -  Coral Health & Threats 
                                -  Ecosystem Modeling 
                                -  Marine Debris 

## Resources 

                                -  TurtleWatch 
                                -  OceanWatch 
                                -  PIFSC Library 
                                -  West Hawaii Integrated Ecosystem Assessment 
                                -  Western Pacific Stock Assessment Review 
                                -  Western Pacific Fisheries Information Network Data Portal 
                                -  Fishery Ecosystem Analysis Tool 

## More Information 

                        -  National Overview: Science & Data 
                        -  Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center 
                        -  External Reviews of Science Programs in the Pacific Islands  
                        -  Independent Peer Reviews of Science in the Pacific Islands 
                        -  Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Young Scientist Opportunity 

## Science News & Blogs

Feature Story

#### A Substantial Reduction in Seal Entanglement 

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

A Hawaiian monk seal entangled in a derelict fishing net. Credit: NOAA Fisheries (Permit #10137)

Feature Story

#### Hey, Google: Find this New Whale Sound

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

A Bryde’s whale photographed in the Mariana Archipelago. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Adam Ü (NOAA Fisheries MMPA-ESA Permit #14097)

Science Blog

#### Net-Working in the Pacific

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Tucker trawl in the water just after deployment. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Johanna Wren

Feature Story

#### NOAA Fisheries Wins 2023 Presidential Migratory Bird Federal Stewardship Award

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

National

Pacific Islands

National

Black-footed albatross. Credit: Robert Pitman

Science Blog

#### Gearing up for the Big Show: NOAA Ship Gear Trials

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Two researchers test bongo nets during a gear trial. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

More News

## Sustainable Fisheries

Fishery management in the Pacific Islands supports the region's fisheries through the development, evaluation, and implementation of fishery policy and legislation. The Pacific Islands Regional Office provides guidance to the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council in developing fishery management plans for commercial and non-commercial domestic fisheries. This ensures that plans are supported by required analyses and are consistent with all applicable laws. Staff coordinate and administer the processing of proposed and final regulations to implement fishery management plans that are approved by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.

Our objectives are to maintain healthy stocks, eliminate overfishing, and rebuild overfished stocks important to commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries. Under these objectives, the goal is to increase long-term economic and social benefits to the nation from living marine resources. We strive to facilitate communications among constituents, and support seafood safety in the region.

## Fishing Resources 

                              -  Fishing Permits 
                              -  Annual Catch Limits 
                              -  Protected Species Workshops 
                              -  Sea Turtle Interactions 
                              -  Seabird Interactions 
                              -  Publications 
                              -  Stock Assessments 

## Pacific Islands Fisheries 

                              -  Highly Migratory Species 
                              -  Main Hawaiian Islands Non-Commercial Bottomfish 
                              -  Recreational and Non-Commercial 
                              -  Aquaculture 
                              -  International 
                              -  MMPA List of Fisheries in the Pacific Islands 

## Rules and Regulations 

                              -  Open for Comment 
                              -  Notices & Rules in the Federal Register 
                              -  Federal Fishing Regulations (Chapter III and IV) 
                              -  Fishery Management Plans 
                              -  Regulation Summaries and Compliance Guides 
                              -  State Fishing Regulations 

## Reporting and Data 

                              -  Observer Program 
                              -  American Samoa Longline Logbook Summary Reports  
                              -  Hawaii and California Longline Logbook Summary Reports 
                              -  Western Pacific Fisheries Information Network 
                              -  Fishery Ecosystem Analysis Tool 
                              -  User Guides for the NOAA Fisheries Longline eReporting App Elog-It 

## More Information 

                      -  Seafood in the Pacific Islands 
                      -  Hawaii Seafood Council 
                      -  FishWatch 
                      -  Bycatch 
                      -  Sustainable Fisheries Overview 

## Protected Resources

Managing protected species includes issues surrounding marine mammal and sea turtle injury and mortality as a result of commercial and non-commercial fishing, coastal development, military operations and other ocean/beach usage. We oversee the Marine Mammal Stranding Network, working with partners and volunteers to respond to live and dead stranded or distressed marine mammals in the main Hawaiian Islands. We also work with partners and stakeholders to create effective messages and outreach materials and volunteer programs, as we believe that an informed public is integral to the protection and recovery of our protected species.

## Endangered Species Conservation 

                            -  Section 7 Consultations 
                            -  Marine Protected Species of American Samoa 
                            -  Marine Protected Species of the Hawaiian Islands 
                            -  Marine Protected Species of Mariana Islands 
                            -  Pacific Islands Region False Killer Whale Take Reduction Team 
                            -  Field Camps in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands 

## Protecting Marine Life 

                            -  Viewing Marine Wildlife in Hawaiʻi 
                            -  Good Neighbors: How to Share Hawaiʻi's Beaches with Endangered Monk Seals 
                            -  DolphinSMART 
                            -  Six Reasons Why You Should Not Swim with Wild Spinner Dolphins 

## Resources  

                            -  Volunteer Opportunities 
                            -  Fishing Around Seals and Turtles 
                            -  Nearshore Fisheries and Interactions with Hawaiian Monk Seals 

## Marine Life in Distress 

                            -  Cetacean Strandings in the Pacific Islands 
                            -  Pacific Islands Marine Mammal Response Program 

## More Information 

                    -  Find a Pacific Islands Species 
                    -  Pacific Islands Protected Resources Regulations & Actions 
                    -  Report Marine Animals | (888) 256-9840 
                    -  Hawaiian Monk Seal Updates 
                    -  Outreach and Education Resources 
                    -  Protected Marine Life Overview 

## Marine Life News

Feature Story

#### A Substantial Reduction in Seal Entanglement 

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

A Hawaiian monk seal entangled in a derelict fishing net. Credit: NOAA Fisheries (Permit #10137)

Feature Story

#### Community Partners Respond to Hawaiʻi Island Cetacean Strandings

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Kiaʻi Kanaloa and Hui Hoʻoleimaluō members respond to a stranded palaoa (whale), a Kogia calf, on Hawaiʻi Island. Their efforts are part of a new and developing stranding response partnership with NOAA Fisheries. Credit: Kiaʻi Kanaloa (NOAA Fisheries Permit #24359)

Feature Story

#### Meet Josefa Muñoz, Ph.D. Student 

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Josefa Muñoz (top row, fourth from left) and her interns on their first day of in-field training for the 2022 Guam Sea Turtle Research Internship. Credit: Jazmin Samonte.

Feature Story

#### Meet Alphina Liusamoa, Sea Turtle Biologist in American Samoa

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Alphina Liusamoa at Rose Atoll attempting to encourage the frigate bird to land on the rake.Credit: Brain Peck

Feature Story

#### NOAA Fisheries Wins 2023 Presidential Migratory Bird Federal Stewardship Award

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

National

Pacific Islands

National

Black-footed albatross. Credit: Robert Pitman

More News

## Conserving Habitat

The NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands region encompasses a large percentage of the nation's ocean habitat to support fisheries stocks, marine mammals, coral reef ecosystems, and a broad spectrum of marine life. These ocean habitats include essential fish habitat under the Magnuson-Stevens Act, seamounts, trenches, and ridges, much of which occurs in the four Marine National Monuments. These ecosystems are important to Pacific Island communities, including Native Hawaiians, Chamorros, Carolinians, and American Samoans, for food, cultural practices, recreation, and overall livelihood. The Pacific Ocean exposes the islands’ coral reefs to large open ocean swells and equatorial currents, which play an important role in structuring the coral ecosystems in and around the Monuments, seamount, trenches, and ridges habitats, as well as the multitude of Pacific Islands.

Our habitat protection efforts include broad research programs on the marine habitat throughout the Pacific Islands region. Our goal is to conserve, protect, and restore marine habitat and coastal ecosystems. The management objectives and priorities for the Pacific Islands include Monument management efforts and the Fisheries Local Action Strategy, a collaborative effort to decrease fishing-related impacts to coral reefs locally. These efforts include:
                  - Habitat mapping and characterization
                  - Physical and biological oceanography studies
                  - Research on a variety of marine habitat issues, including marine debris, invasive species, and pollutant

We also work to increase partnerships with other federal and local authorities. These partnerships allow us to maintain sustainable coastal ecosystems and implement strategies that minimize the introduction and impacts of alien species and marine pollution. We provide technical reviews of all proposed federal actions in coastal habitats in the Pacific Islands region to eliminate or reduce potential negative environmental impacts on the marine habitat..

## Conserving Habitat 

                          -  Marine National Monuments 
                          -  Coral Reefs in the Pacific 
                          -  Coral Health and Threats 
                          -  Essential Fish Habitat 
                          -  Restoring Shallow Corals  
                          -  Fisheries Local Action Strategy in Hawaiʻi 
                          -  Hawaiʻi Fisheries Extension 
                          -  Scientists and Fishermen Exchange 

## Consultations 

                          -  Essential Fish Habitat Consultations 
                          -  Endangered Species Act Consultations 

## Regional Activities 

                          -  NOAA Develops A New Type of Coral Nursery 
                          -  How Tiny Sea Urchins Are Saving Kāne‘ohe Bay 
                          -  Shallow Coral Reefs — Essential Fish Habitat of the Pacific Islands 
                          -  American Samoa Coastal Uses Mapping Project 
                          -  The Saga of Pacific Paradise 
                          -  Improving Habitat Restoration and Conservation in Guam's Manell-Geus Habitat Focus Area 

## Resources 

                          -  Pacific Islands Benthic Habitat Mapping Center 
                          -  Measurement Guide for Regulated Nearshore Fish of Hawaiʻi 
                          -  Frequently Asked Questions about Essential Fish Habitat in the Pacific Islands  
                          -  Pacific Islands critical habitat designations, maps, and GIS data 
                          -  7-12 Grade Lesson Plans: Using Scientific Data Collected in the Marine National Monuments 
                          -  Marianas Trench Classroom Posters 

## More Information 

                  -  National Overview: Habitat Conservation 
                  -  Surveying a Vast Ocean 
                  -  Habitat Blueprint in the Pacific Islands 
                  -  Ecosystems: Pacific Islands Complex 
                  -  NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program 
                  -  Funding Opportunities  
                  -  Outreach and Education Resources 
                  -  Pacific Islands Data and Maps 

## Habitat News

Feature Story

#### A Substantial Reduction in Seal Entanglement 

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

A Hawaiian monk seal entangled in a derelict fishing net. Credit: NOAA Fisheries (Permit #10137)

Feature Story

#### Restoring Coral and Stream Banks Through the National Fish Habitat Partnership

Feature Story,

Alaska

Pacific Islands

National

Alaska

Pacific Islands

National

Near Talkeetna, Alaska, volunteers are hard at work planting native trees and shrubs to improve shoreline habitat for fish on Montana Creek, a popular trout and salmon-fishing stream. Credit: Trout Unlimited Alaska

Feature Story

#### Recreational Fishing Communities Help to Protect and Restore Habitat through National Fish Habitat Partnership

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Southeast

West Coast

National

Pacific Islands

Southeast

West Coast

National

Kuleana Coral Restoration team gathers at a public outreach event in 2023 at Pokai Bay, Hawai'i. Credit: Kuleana Coral Restoration

Feature Story

#### Must-Read Pacific Islands Stories of 2023

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Kuleana Coral Reef’s NOAA-sponsored training program instructs how to apply adhesive to a substrate to attach a rescued coral of opportunity (one that has detached from the reef). Credit: Blake Nowack/Kuleana Coral Reefs

Feature Story

#### Meet Your Pacific Islands Protected Coral Species

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Acropora globiceps at Tinian island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Under the Endangered Species Act, A. globiceps is listed as threatened in CNMI, American Samoa, Guam, Hawaiʻi, and the Pacific Remote Islands Area. Credit: Doug Fenner

More News

## Featured Species in the Pacific Islands

We maintain and manage healthy ocean ecosystems that promote and provide sustainable fisheries, conserve and recover protected marine resources, and enhance opportunities for commercial, recreational, and cultural activities in the Pacific Islands region.

Hawaiian Monk Seal

Green Turtle

False Killer Whale

Main Hawaiian Islands Deep 7 Bottomfish

Oceanic Whitetip Shark

Acropora globiceps Coral

Spinner Dolphin

Pocillopora meandrina Coral

Acropora retusa Coral

View All

## More Information 

                -  Find a Species  
                -  Marine Protected Species of American Samoa 
                -  Marine Protected Species of the Hawaiian Islands 
                -  Marine Protected Species of Mariana Islands 

## Species News

Feature Story

#### A Substantial Reduction in Seal Entanglement 

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

A Hawaiian monk seal entangled in a derelict fishing net. Credit: NOAA Fisheries (Permit #10137)

Feature Story

#### From Past Patients to New Moms

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

LL00 and her first pup lay on the sands of Hōlanikū. Credit: Kure Atoll Conservancy (Permit #22677-02)

Feature Story

#### Hey, Google: Find this New Whale Sound

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

A Bryde’s whale photographed in the Mariana Archipelago. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Adam Ü (NOAA Fisheries MMPA-ESA Permit #14097)

Feature Story

#### Community Partners Respond to Hawaiʻi Island Cetacean Strandings

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

Pacific Islands

Kiaʻi Kanaloa and Hui Hoʻoleimaluō members respond to a stranded palaoa (whale), a Kogia calf, on Hawaiʻi Island. Their efforts are part of a new and developing stranding response partnership with NOAA Fisheries. Credit: Kiaʻi Kanaloa (NOAA Fisheries Permit #24359)

Feature Story

#### From Overfished to Sustainable Harvests: Pacific Bluefin Tuna Rebound to New Highs

Feature Story,

Pacific Islands

West Coast

Pacific Islands

West Coast

Pacific bluefin tuna swim underwater. Credit: Adobe Stock

More News

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