Rianne Pangelinan-Brown, Saipan Tribune 10 Feb 08;
The CNMI is the only jurisdiction in the Pacific to ban scuba-spear fishing, which is seen as a primary factor why the islands still teem with Napoleon wrasses, a type of fish that is being fast depleted in other parts of the world.
According to the Division of Fish & Wildlife, scuba spear fishing is a type of fishing that is potentially the cause of the rapid decline of Napoleon wrasses in other areas.
“The use of scuba-spear has probably been the single most important cause of the decline of the Napoleon wrasse worldwide,” said DFW fisheries research section supervisor Michael Trianni.
The CNMI has outlawed the use of scuba-spear in 2002 and has also placed restrictions on the use of monofilament gill, surround, and drag nets.
These actions, Trianni said, have provided protection to juvenile wrasse that utilize lagoon and reef flats to grow.
It's been noted that the Napoleon wrasse is a target of live fishery in the Pacific.
Its numbers are declining in other areas of the Pacific such as Indonesia, the Philippines and other locales where effective legislation or enforcement are not enacted.
Trianni explained that with scuba-spears, divers would fish at night when the wrasse are resting in their caves or under or in between large reef structures, making it very easy to kill them.
“The divers can then bring the fish back to the boat, offload it, and go back down to continue fishing. Catching a wrasse while free diving is much more difficult since it requires a person to hold their breath and descend to deeper waters to spear them. It is a physically challenging method, and very few people possess the attributes to be successful,” Trianni said.
He said that the number of wrasses that can be killed by scuba-spear is much higher than what can be harvested by a free-diver.
DFW's Felix Sasamoto Jr. recently caught two Napoleon wrasses while spearfishing at Obyan Beach.
According to Trianni, the fact that Sasamoto was able to catch the fish in 43 feet of water is “rather encouraging.”
“Perhaps the management measures that are in place are paying some dividends,” Trianni said.
He added that the intent behind the ban on scuba spear fishing was to provide fish with a refuge by depth, “recognizing that there are not a lot of free-divers with the capabilities of someone like Felix.”
“This action, in time, would slowly replenish the diveable fishing depths,” Trianni said.
The DFW has created a marine protected depth zone throughout the CNMI for fish that are not primarily harvested by hook and line, “such as the wrasse.”
In Hong Kong, a Napoleon wrasse can fetch up to about $9 a pound, otherwise $400 for a set of its lips.
It is reported that the high prices are not a result of any superb flavor or texture. Instead, eating the fish is seen as a status symbol-a representation of wealth.
The Napoleon wrasse is red-listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
The IUCNNR are stated that the ongoing threats have caused the fish to be considered endangered and that they are not being replaced fast enough to compensate for the excess fishing rate and other threats.
