The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council (WPRFMC) is one of eight regional councils[1] established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) in 1976 to manage offshore fisheries.[2] The WPRFMC's jurisdiction includes the US exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters (generally 3–200 miles offshore) around the State of Hawaii; US Territories of American Samoa and Guam; the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI); and the US Pacific remote island areas of Johnston, Midway, Palmyra and Wake Atolls; Baker, Howland and Jarvis Islands; and Kingman Reef. This area of nearly 1.5 million square miles is the size of the continental United States and constitutes about half of the entire US EEZ. It spans both sides of the equator and both sides of the dateline. The WPRFMC also manages domestic fisheries based in the US Pacific Islands that operate on the high seas.[3]
The council is based in Honolulu, Hawaii.[4]
- ^ "US Regional Fishery Management Councils". fisherycouncils.org. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
- ^ "Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act". www.nmfs.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
- ^ "NOAA Fisheries Service Pacific Island Region". www.nmfs.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2014-10-08.
- ^ "About Us". WPRFMC. Retrieved April 19, 2016.