NOAA lists Hawaiian bottomfish that can be sustainably harvested

Got opakapaka?  Seven popular species of bottomfish remain abundant in Island waters.

Got opakapaka?  Seven popular species of bottomfish remain abundant in Hawaiian waters and can continue to be sustainably harvested, according to a new stock assessment from NOAA’s Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center. The new assessment shows a positive outlook for the stock—not currently overfished and no overfishing. The Hawaii “Deep 7” bottomfish stock, which is made up of opakapaka (pink snapper), onaga (longtail snapper), ehu (squirrelfish snapper), kalekale (Von Siebold’s snapper), gindai (Brigham’s snapper), lehi (silverjaw snapper), and hapuupuu (Seale’s grouper), is jointly managed by state and federal authorities.  

Fishing for bottomfish  is an important component of the local economy with a long tradition in the Hawaiian culture. Today, bottomfish account for more than 50 percent of the total domestic commercial catch and are valued in the millions of dollars. Bottomfish are popular in seafood restaurants and  on dinner tables  throughout Hawaii and are also used to celebrate special occasions. This new assessment shows that bottomfish can continue to be sustainably harvested. 

There are new and exciting improvements to this latest stock assessment. For the first time, PIFSC scientists  included information from the  bottomfish fishery-independent survey. These surveys are completed annually with a lot  of help from local commercial fishermen. 

Scientists  use underwater camera systems to collect video footage of bottomfish in their deep-water habitats. The underwater footage combined with data collected by  local fishermen through the  Pacific Islands Fisheries Group  gives us an idea of how many fish there are throughout Hawaii. The information from these  surveys and fishers  influenced the results of the stock assessment and showed  that the stock is healthy. 

In addition,  local fishers provided input—through  a series of workshops—that helped us improve the quality of commercial data used in the analysis. Also for the first time, PIFSC scientists  have provided a single species assessment for opakapaka (pink snapper). Opakapaka is a popular fish that makes up two-thirds of the total catch and two-thirds of the stock. Scientists  found that opakapaka stocks also have a positive outlook, similar to the overall assessment. All of these results will be presented to fishery managers who will use the information to set new catch limits.