Island Fisheries Status

Bottomfish

The bottomfish fishery on Guam is a combination of recreational, subsistence and small-scale commercial fishing. The majority of bottomfish fishing around Guam takes place on offshore banks, though practically no information exists on the condition of the reefs on offshore banks.

The Guam bottomfish fishery in 2018 exhibited a six percent increase in catch for all species and an 11 percent increase in catch since 2016 for bottomfish management unit species (BMUS) in particular, though no commercial catch trends can be reported due to data confidentiality (i.e., less than three vendors reported). Total BMUS catch was 32,750 pounds, less than 50 percent of the prescribed annual catch limit for the year. The number of participants in the fishery in 2018 was six percent than the short (10 years) and long-term (20 years) averages. One large vessel bottomfish federal permit was issued in 2018 for Guam.

In 2019, the NOAA Fisheries’ Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) Stock Assessment Program (SAP) released its benchmark bottomfish management unit species (BMUS) stock assessments for American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Langseth et al. 2019). In the report, the territories’ bottomfish stocks were determined to be overfished and not experiencing overfishing (Guam),

Non-Commercial Fisheries

Most of the fishing on Guam is non-commercial, meaning they fish for food (sustenance), culture and tradition (subsistence), and for recreation.  While the non-commercial fisheries are mainly for pelagic species using trolling gear, there is also a large amount of spearfishing, bottomfish fishing, and shorefishing.  Guam also has a charter fishing sector that caters to both pelagic and bottomfish fishing, mainly for tourists from Japan.   The charter fishery mainly uses trolling for blue marlin, skipjack, and dolphinfish.

Ecosystem Components

National Standard 1 allows for the Regional Fishery Management Councils to identify species, species complexes, and stocks that would constitute Ecosystem Components (81 FR 71858, October 18, 2016). Ecosystem Components are species that contributes to the ecological functions of the island fisheries ecosystem. These species are retained in the Marianas FEP for monitoring purposes and are protected associated with its role in the ecosystem and to address other ecosystem issues.

Coral Reef Ecosystem Components

Hook and line is the most common method of fishing for coral reef fish on Guam, accounting for around 70 percent of fishers and gear. Throw net (talaya) is the second most common method accounting for about 15 percent. Other methods include gill net, snorkel spearfishing, surround net, drag net, hooks, gaffs and gleaning. Less than 20 percent of the total coral reef resources harvested in Guam are taken from federal waters (3 to 200 miles from shore), primarily because the reefs in the exclusive economic zone are often associated with less accessible offshore banks. SCUBA spearfishing became illegal in May 2020 when the Guam Legislature passed Bill 53-35.

In Guam, 2018 total catch of coral reef ecosystem management species was 136,385 and 106,707 pounds for boat-based and shore-based fisheries, respectively. This corresponds to a 12 percent increase compared to the short-term average for the boat-based fisheries and a 16 percent decrease for the shore-based fisheries. The shore-based coral reef fishery in 2018 was topped by hook-and-line and cast nets targeting rabbitfish and jacks. The boat-based sector was headed by bottomfishing and spearfishing targeting bottomfish, parrotfish and jacks. The 2018 participation levels were relatively lower than average most gear types.