Meetings held on bottomfish fisheries

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - A scoping meeting is set for this evening calling on the island's fishing community. The Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council is hosting a meeting in Saipan and Guam on the management of the bottomfish fishery within the exclusive economic zone of the Mariana Islands.

Guam Fisherman's Cooperative Association president Manny Duenas says because Guam is so close and we share adjacent waters, the issues are very relevant to the fishing community. He said, "Also the waters between Guam and Rota it has always been shared waters0730 and for our local fisherman to go up and fish near Rota and the bottomfish area for example, it would be illegal for them to do it unless they get a federal permit and we're not registered in the CNMI. So that's put into question what type of regulations we really ah veto deal with between the waters of Guam and Rota."

The scoping meeting is taking place at the Hilton until 9 this evening.