Fish prices If you're hungry for poke, sashimi or grilled tuna, you might want to indulge over the next few days.
to rise, quality
may fall
The new longline ban will
By Diana Leone
cause much of the fish in the
isles to be imported and costly
Star-BulletinBy this time next week, the court-ordered ban on all longline fishing by Hawaii-based boats that began Thursday should be felt in Hawaii's kitchens -- and wallets.
Much of the fish for sale in Hawaii will be imported and more expensive. The quality of the fish may go down, too, because it will be flown in from other locations, such as Samoa, Fiji, Indonesia or the Gulf of Mexico.
Buyers said they are preparing for the shortage of local fish, and at least one major employer is planning to lay off employees.
"It's going to be tough for everybody," said Garden and Valley Isle Seafood buyer Colin Young. He typically buys 2,000 to 8,000 pounds of fish a day, selling part of it to local hotels and restaurants and exporting the rest. Soon, Young will be importing instead. "There'll be fish available, but obviously it will reflect the prices and quality."
Fish buyers at United Fishing Agency, Oahu's commercial fish auction, had their choice of about 64,000 pounds of fish yesterday morning, most of it caught by five longlining vessels. That compares favorably with auction sales since the longliners had to reel in their hooks Thursday, but it is probably one of the last days of such supply.United Manager Frank Goto said only two more longline boats are expected in Honolulu over the next few days. Within days the last of the longline fish will be sold.
Buyers at the auction yesterday said they already have connections in place to import fish for their clients, but they are not happy about it.
Instead of feeling each fish's firmness, color and freshness, they will have to take the word of someone on the phone.
"I don't think the public knows right now what's going to happen," said Jed Inouye, a buyer with Seafood Hawaii. "Here in Hawaii we do consume a lot of fish, and for us to be eating frozen, imported fish with the ocean all around is sad, really sad."
Goto said he is planning to furlough many of United Fishing's 100 employees as soon as next week.
Without the longline input, the auction that normally runs from 5:30 a.m. until mid-morning or noon may be over in less than an hour.
Val Choyfoo, who has worked for United Fishing for 18 years, said if the closure goes on longer than a few weeks, he will get a temporary job to make ends meet.
The ban on longline fishing in Hawaii waters by locally based longliners, which is intended to protect endangered and threatened sea turtles, is set to last until the end of May. The only way it could end sooner is if U.S. District Court Judge David Ezra reviews an environmental impact statement due April 1 and changes his ruling.
However, the National Marine Fisheries Service is expected to recommend that longlining for swordfish be entirely banned and that longlining for tuna be closed between Jan. 15 and June 15 in a 2 million-square-mile area south of Hawaii. The recommendation is based on the fisheries service's analysis of how often longliners snag turtles when they fish.
The ruling is based on the Endangered Species Act, which does not consider economic effects of protecting an endangered species. Unless the Fisheries Service or Ezra reconsiders, the dearth of local fish could continue for quite some time.
Meanwhile, the low end of the market is already feeling the pinch. A buyer who supplies a vendor at swap meets said the vendor's customers do not want to pay more than $4 a pound. So, even the $2.20-a-pound fish sold yesterday was over her price range.
What the buyers pay at auction is generally doubled by the time they sell to a restaurant or grocery store because after trimming away the head, tail and bones, the quantity of useable fish is cut in half.
A spot check of supermarkets and fish markets yesterday found that retail prices for sashimi-grade ahi ranged from $13 to $15. But you could still nab some poke in the $6-a-pound range -- if you act quickly.