In addition, it has begun work on developing a coral reef ecosystem FMP in an effort to address the EFH requirements in a comprehensive way. The council, however, manages a conglomeration of jurisdictions in the Pacific, some of which extend to the shoreline and some of which begin three miles offshore. Bycatch Most of the recognized bycatch problems the Western Pacific Council has faced centered on prohibited species such as marine mammals, seabirds, and turtles, rather than incidentally caught, non-target fish. While the council is to be commended for its years of work in trying to shape fisheries to avoid these interactions, this type of bycatch, with the exception of turtles, is not governed by the new SFA requirements. Based on agency data that bycatch represents about 19 percent of total catch in the region, the council did not adopt specific bycatch measures.
Bycatch data is collected from logbooks, creel surveys, observer data and agency research.
The largest discard issue in the Western Pacific is shark finning. Only one percent of the animals are retained and marketed for their flesh. Managers estimate that more than 60,000 blue sharks are finned yearly, of the estimated 100,000 blue sharks caught. The Hawaii longline shark fishery is one of the few left where finning is allowed. The practice is banned entirely in U.S. Atlantic waters and in coastal California waters.