Hawaii FEP - Western Pacific Fishery Council

4.5.3 Status of Coral Reef FisheriesTo date Hawaii’s coral reef fisheries have not been determined to be overfished or subject tooverfishing.4.5.4 Coral Reef Fisheries MSYThere are no available estimates of MSY values for coral reef ecosystem management unitspecies in the Hawaii Archipelago.4.5.5 Coral Reef Fisheries Optimum YieldOY for coral reef ecosystem associated species is defined as 75 percent of their MSY.4.5.6 Coral Reef Fisheries Domestic Processing CapacityAvailable information indicates that U.S. processors have sufficient capacity to process the entireOY.4.5.7 Coral Reef Fisheries TALFFAvailable information indicates that U.S. vessels currently have the capacity to harvest the OYon an annual basis and therefore no part of OY appears to be available for a TALFF.4.6 Description of Hawaii Archipelago Fishing CommunitiesThe community setting of the fisheries of the Hawaii Archipelago is a complex one. While theregion shares some features with domestic fishing community settings elsewhere, it is unlike anyother area of the U.S. or its territories and affiliates in terms of its geographic span, the relativerole of U.S. EEZ versus foreign EEZ versus high-seas area dependency, and its general socialand cultural history. Furthermore, the identification of specific, geographically identical andbounded communities in these small insular areas is often problematic, at least for the purpose ofsocial impact analysis. Participants in some fisheries may reside in one area on an island, mooror launch their vessels in another area, fish offshore of a different area, and land their fish in yetanother area. In these cases, an island or group of islands is the most logical unit of analysis fordescribing the community setting and assessing community-level impacts. On the other hand, incases such as the Hawaii-based longline fishery, the influence of and dependency on the fisheryappear to be concentrated in certain areas of a particular island. Unfortunately, in most instances,there is a paucity of socioeconomic data on fishery participants at a subisland level with which toillustrate these points.4.6.1 Identification of Fishing CommunitiesIn Hawaii the residential distribution of individuals who are substantially dependent on orsubstantially engaged in the harvest or processing of fishery resources approximates the total128