Walk into a fish market or grocery store in Hawai‘i and you are likely to see a poke counter. For that, you can thank a fisherman – and in many cases, a longliner. Beginning in the 1960s, commercial fishing in Hawai‘i shifted from smaller reef species to larger pelagic fish as new technology became available. Affordable outboard motors, fiberglass hulls and fish aggregating devices expanded offshore capability, while changing consumer tastes encouraged the growth of longline fishing.
Japanese immigrants played a key role in this transition. After leaving plantation work, many returned to fishing. Commercial activity expanded through skipjack tuna harvests that supplied a local cannery, and by 1917, these fishermen had introduced a technique known as “flagline fishing”, which used a mainline, suspended leaders, baited hooks, floats and flags. It served as an early form of longlining. Later innovations—monofilament lines, hydraulic reels and line setters—helped shape the fishery into its modern form.
Longline fishing in the United States is managed as a sustainable activity and remains economically important. Hawai‘i operates the largest longline fleet, with a second major fleet based in American Samoa. The Hawai‘i fleet is the state’s largest food producer, landing more than 30 million pounds of fish and generating over $110 million annually. It supports a seafood sector employing nearly 10,000 people and generating $867 million a year. In American Samoa, the longline fleet targeting albacore has landed between 2 and 5.6 million pounds annually over the past decade, including 3.4 million pounds in 2024. That same year, dockside revenues from both local longline and purse seine fisheries exceeded $43 million and supported the StarKist cannery, which processes about 100,000 tons of tuna annually for U.S. markets.
Strong management is essential given the importance of these fisheries. The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council oversees the fishery through its Pacific Pelagic Fishery Ecosystem Plan, which includes limited access permits, vessel size restrictions, area closures around Hawai‘i and American Samoa and measures to reduce interactions with protected species. Requirements include observers or electronic monitoring, protected species workshops, crew training and gear mandates such as circle hooks, monofilament leaders and tori lines. Because target species migrate across entire ocean basins, the fleets must also comply with conservation measures set by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission.
Despite this comprehensive framework, longline fisheries face growing pressure from large spatial closures in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and proposals affecting the high seas. Marine national monuments designated by presidential proclamation have closed more than half of the Western Pacific’s EEZ and over a quarter of the entire U.S. EEZ. Meanwhile, international efforts to restrict fishing in areas beyond national jurisdiction continue to advance, further limiting waters available to U.S. fleets.
The 2016 expansion of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands highlights this debate. One study (Medoff et al. 2022) suggested increased abundance of yellowfin and bigeye tuna near the boundary, indicating a possible “spillover effect”. However, these ecological claims conflict with observed economic outcomes. Chan (2020) found that vessels displaced from traditional fishing grounds experienced a 7% decline in catch rates and lost $3.5 million within 16 months. Assessments of other Pacific marine protected areas reported mostly null or negative effects, including an 84% reduction in standardized bigeye catch rates linked to a 2009 closure (Gilman et al. 2020).
More recent analyses have challenged earlier conclusions. Hilborn et al. (2025) argued that the positive effects reported by Medoff were likely due to incorrect modeling assumptions and further analyses elicit conflicting conclusions. Hampton et al. (2023) concluded that large oceanic closures do not deliver significant conservation benefits for highly mobile species and that direct catch and effort controls are more effective.
Today, shrinking fishing grounds, rising operating costs, low ex-vessel prices and crew shortages threaten the viability of U.S. longline fleets in Hawai‘i and American Samoa. These pressures extend throughout the entire fishing community—from suppliers and processors to restaurants and consumers—reminding us that the fresh, sustainable seafood we enjoy depends on supporting the longline fishermen who make it possible.
References
- Chan HL. 2020. Economic impacts of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument expansion on the Hawaii longline fishery. Marine Policy, 115, 103869. doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2020.103869.
- Gilman E et al. 2020. Ecological responses to blue water MPAs. PLoS ONE, 15(7), e0235129. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235129.
- Hampton J et al. 2023. Limited conservation efficacy of large-scale Marine Protected Areas for Pacific skipjack and bigeye tunas. Frontiers in Marine Science, doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1060943
- Hilborn R, Fitchett M, Hampton J, Ovando D. 2025. When does spillover from marine protected areas indicate benefits to fish abundance and catch? Theoretical Ecology, 18(1). doi.org/10.1007/s12080-
024-00596-2. - Medoff S, Lynham J, Raynor J. 2022. Spillover benefits from the world’s largest fully protected MPA. Science, 378(6617), 313–316. doi.org/10.1126/science.abn0098.
