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Posted: Saturday, March 19th, 2005 5:27 AM HST

Council votes for plan to help prevent overfishing of bigeye tuna

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) The council responsible for managing the fisheries of the western Pacific Ocean came up this week with an initial plan to help prevent overfishing of bigeye tuna. The fish is a favorite of Japan's sashimi market. The council's plan would require Hawaii's small-vessel, offshore tuna handline fishery to keep logbooks, place limits on the number of boats fishing when necessary, and place observers aboard some boats. The council's initial plans are only enforceable within U-S waters, but the plans also included recommendations for foreign vessels. Only about 5 percent of the bigeye tuna harvested from the Pacific is caught in the U-S Exclusive Economic Zone. Those are the waters between three and 200 miles off the coasts of Hawaii, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. (Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved.)