Hawaii FEP - Western Pacific Fishery Council

The management and conservation measures contained in this FEP for targeting crustaceanspecies are being carried forth from the Crustaceans FMP and no additional measures areproposed at this time. Therefore, the Council believes that the proposed crustacean fishingactivities under this FEP not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any threatened orendangered species under NMFS’s jurisdiction or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat.In a biological opinion issued in October 1978, NMFS concluded that the ongoing operation ofthe Western Pacific Region’s precious coral fisheries was not likely to jeopardize the continuedexistence of any threatened or endangered species under NMFS’s jurisdiction or destroy oradversely modify critical habitat (NMFS 1978).An informal consultation completed by NMFS in February 2008 concluded that HawaiiArchipelago precious coral fisheries are not likely to adversely affect any ESA-listed species orcritical habitat.The management and conservation measures contained in this FEP for targeting precious coralsare being carried forth from the Precious Corals FMP and no additional measures are proposed atthis time. Therefore, the Council believes that the proposed precious coral fishing activitiesunder this FEP not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any threatened or endangeredspecies under NMFS’s jurisdiction or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat.An informal consultation completed by NMFS on March 7, 2002 concluded that that fishingactivities conducted under the Coral Reef Ecosystems FMP are not likely to adversely affectendangered or threatened species or critical habitat under NMFS’s jurisdiction (NMFS 2002b).On May 22, 2002, the USFWS concurred with the determination of NMFS that the activitiesconducted under the Coral Reef Ecosystems FMP are not likely to adversely affect listed speciesunder USFWS’s exclusive jurisdiction (i.e., seabirds and terrestrial plants) and listed speciesshared with NMFS (i.e., sea turtles).The management and conservation measures contained in this FEP for targeting coral reefspecies are being carried forth from the Coral Reef Ecosystems FMP and no additional measuresare proposed at this time. Therefore, the Council believes that the proposed coral reef fishingactivities under this FEP not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any threatened orendangered species under NMFS’s jurisdiction or destroy or adversely modify critical habitat.8.6 Marine Mammal Protection ActUnder section 118 of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), NMFS must publish, at leastannually, a List of Fisheries (LOF) that classifies U.S. commercial fisheries into one of threecategories. These categories are based on the level of serious injury and mortality of marinemammals that occurs incidental to each fishery. Specifically, the MMPA mandates that eachfishery be classified according to whether it has frequent, occasional, or a remote likelihood of orno-known incidental mortality or serious injury of marine mammals.NMFS uses fishery classification criteria, which consist of a two-tiered, stock-specific approach.230